


We Survived the Crisis, Babe

by memoriesaremine



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Badass Lex Foster, Because he deserves it goddamnit, Canon Divergent, Canon-Typical Violence, Ethan and Lex say ACAB, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt Ethan, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Protective Ethan Green, Protective Lex Foster, Protective Tom Houston, Tom Houston is A Dad Y'all, ethan and hannah are babey, ethan is top tier boyfriend/big brother material folks, ethan lives au, i have no idea why i made checkered hat man such a major antagonist but here we are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 34,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23044255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memoriesaremine/pseuds/memoriesaremine
Summary: There's a world out there where Ethan Green didn't succumb to his killers. Where He, Lex, and Hannah, after a lot of pain, struggling and some light murder, made it out of Black Friday alive and drove off to California without looking back. This is that story.
Relationships: Becky Barnes/Tom Houston, Ethan Green & Hannah Foster, Ethan Green & Henry Hidgens, Ethan Green & Tom Houston, Hannah Foster & Lex Foster, Lex Foster & Tom Houston, Lex Foster/Ethan Green
Comments: 175
Kudos: 396





	1. Chapter 1 - Hannah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hannah loses Ethan and runs to hide, but is confronted with something far worse than she could ever imagine.

“Run, Hannah!” Ethan shouted to her, while he desperately tried to dislodge the crazy man that had his arms wrapped around him from behind. “The Playplace by Marshall’s! Get in the kiddie tunnel!” 

“NO! Bad blood! Ethan!” Hannah stood petrified. His t-shirt was red and wet. “Bad blood.” 

“I’ll catch up with you, Banana Split!” Ethan said, pushing the bad men away from Hannah. “I promise. Now get out of here!” 

It was loud, a barrage of noises. The shouts at Ethan. The sound of fists hitting him. Hannah was scared, so she ran off, sobbing. Ran as fast as she could away from those awful, awful men looking for Wiggly. She ran away and left Ethan behind. 

She reached the Playplace near Marshall’s, as Ethan had told her, and scrambled through the ball pit and into the kiddie tunnel. She curled in a ball, clutching Ethan’s hat. The tunnel was in bright, happy colors. Reds and blues and greens. There was a window, too, so Hannah could look out and see what was around her. But it was too dark to see. Everything looked black.

“Webby?” She whispered into the darkness. “Ethan?” 

Webby didn’t respond. Neither did Ethan. 

She was all alone. 

“Ethan!” She tried calling his name a little louder, but not too loud. The bad people were still out there, and she didn’t want them to hear her. “Ethan!” 

_  
Hannah.   
_

“Webby?” 

_  
Ethan is dead.   
_

Hannah began to wail. She was being too loud, but she didn’t care anymore. “No, no, no, not Ethan! No California without Ethan!” 

__  
You can’t scream, Hannah. They’ll hear you.   


“I don’t care!” Ethan. Big Brother. “He’s gone!” 

She pulled the hat more tightly on her head. She should have given it to him while they were hitting him. It could have saved him with its magic powers. 

She trembled harder. “Lexie! I want Lexie!” She put her head between her knees and stayed there for a long time. 

Hannah could usually tell how Webby was feeling. Now Webby was sad about Ethan. Just like her. 

“Webby.” she lifted her head, just a little. “I’m scared.” 

Webby didn’t answer. Again. But there was another noise now, a noise like nails on a chalkboard. An eerie, unsettling noise that seeped its way into Hannah’s bones. 

A scratchy voice, whispering her name over and over. “Hannah.” 

“Haaannahh.” 

Louder. Closer, maybe. 

“Hannaaaahhh.” 

Hannah bit back a scream, closed her eyes, and waited. 

Then, something new. A voice, comforting and familiar. 

“What’s shakin’ Banana?” 

Hannah opened her eyes, and there he was, holding out his hand from outside the kiddie tunnel. He wasn’t hurt. He was smiling at her, but it was strange. He floated in midair outside the window of the tunnel. Webby, once again, wasn’t saying anything. 

“Ethan?” She asked hesitantly, resisting the urge to reach out and take his outstretched hand. 

“Who else?” Ethan gave her a sad-looking smile. “Oh, don’t be scared, Hannah, it’s safe to come out now.” He snickered a bit. “Do I gotta put a leash on you?” 

All Hannah wanted to do was run outside the tunnel, take his hand, and run away. Find Lexie, then go to California. But something in her head, Webby maybe, told her to wait. This was all wrong. 

“No,” she whispered. “Webby said you - you died.” It hurt to say it, but she knew Webby was right. 

Ethan laughed then, but it’s not his normal deep laughter that always made Lexie smile. It was almost insane. His voice sounded just like the bad men who had attacked him outside the Cineplex. 

“I did!” His voice had too much glee in it for the sadness of his declaration. 

“Huh?” This wasn't the Ethan she knew. This was wrong. 

“Aw, don’t be so mushy, Banana. Dying ain’t so bad.” 

“No!” 

“I’m in the Black and White now, it’s reaall nice.” Ethan floated a little bit closer. His eyes grew even wider and his mouth twisted in a gruesome smile. “It’s just like California! It never rains!” 

“Not Ethan, liar, bad double!” The real Ethan would never do something like this! 

“You know they’re coming for you, Hannah!” Bad Ethan yelled. The bad men would hear him and come find her. “There’s only one thing that you can do! You gotta give that doll to a woman in a black cape!” 

No. They needed the doll to get to California. Hannah covered the backpack with her arms, shielding it from Bad Ethan. 

“She’s reeeal nice. I swear it on my own grave!” 

“Not Ethan!” Hannah screamed. 

Bad Ethan gave a sinister grin and started coming closer, closer, closer. He floated right through the Then he stopped, looking confused. 

“What -? How?” Bad Ethan sputtered in anger and shock.

Then, Bad Ethan began to crumble into dust. His outstretched hands went first, then his legs. 

“No, Not possible!” He screamed. Then his head burst into dust. And he was gone. 

Bad Ethan wanted Hannah to give Wiggly to a lady in a black cape. So she couldn’t give Wiggly to a lady in a black cape. 

She reached down and snatched Wiggly out of the backpack. “It’s you! Leave Ethan alone!” 

“Hello, Hannah. Let’s be paly-wals!” Wiggly said.

Hannah screamed and threw him on the floor. 

Hannah took deep breaths to calm down. Something that Good Ethan told her worked well for him when he was upset. 

“Webby?” She asked after ten deep breaths. “What happened. What’s going on? Help me!” 

Webby didn’t answer, but someone else did. 

A voice, from outside the entrance to the tunnel. A voice, familiar, and comforting, and a voice that sounded much more human than the one that had tormented her moments ago. A voice that sounded hurt. 

“Banana Split? Hannah? Are you here?” 


	2. Chapter 2 - Ethan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Ethan survives may be just a tiny bit misleading. 
> 
> Don't worry, he gets better.

Ethan felt numb. At first, there was only pain as he tried desperately to stay on his feet, hold off the psychopaths long enough for Hannah to escape. Then he had been stabbed, and all his nerves were on fire and every blow felt like it was being dealt by a giant with a sledgehammer. Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore and his legs gave out beneath him. Now, as he lay on the ground and they beat him with no hesitation or mercy, he felt nothing at all. 

_ Is this what it feels like to die?  _ He thought. He hoped beyond hope that somehow this was all some fucked-up nightmare, and he would wake up at home. Then Lex would call him and tell him they were leaving for California and everyone would be happy. But it wasn’t a dream. Ethan was lying outside the Cineplex, dying at the hands of people who were after a fucking  _ children’s toy.  _

Dying sucked. 

_ As long as Hannah was able to escape.  _ He thought. Whatever happened to him now, if Hannah had made it somewhere safe, if by some miracle she managed to evade all of the crazed shoppers who were willing to hurt, willing to  _ kill  _ for the stupid Wiggly doll and escaped the mall with Lex, then this wouldn’t be in vain. With that thought, he allowed his eyes to close. 

Then, the impact stopped, and Ethan heard someone say his name. It sounded like it was coming from a mile underwater, but he heard his name. 

Ethan tried to move but found he couldn’t. He used all his strength to force his eyes open, and saw two blurry outlines kneeling over him. He wasn’t sure how much more his body would take. He could sort of feel the warm, wet liquid soaking into his shirt and it made him shiver. He braced himself for the beatings to begin again, but he only felt the vague sensation of being lifted up a little. A hand under his neck. 

The one holding his head was a vaguely familiar-looking man that Ethan’s muddled mind couldn’t place. The other was a woman, with a round face and slender figure and wavy hair. She was gripping Ethan’s hand and murmuring something, maybe trying to soothe him? 

“Lex?” Ethan murmured hoarsely. He clutched the hand tighter with all the strength he had left. He tried to send it all to her. She’d need it to find Hannah and get out of this mess alive. 

If she replied, Ethan didn’t hear. 

“I’ll get you to California, Lex.” Ethan had to force out the words, his mouth tasted like blood. But he wanted them to be his last. He fought to stay conscious long enough to say what he needed to say. “Then, maybe you don’t gotta cry so much no more.” 

Time seemed to stall. Ethan felt his eyes closing and heart slowing down, blood still seeping from the knife wound in his side. Panic welled up inside him. He would never admit it, but he was afraid. Afraid of dying. Afraid of whatever came after. 

Then he thought of different, better last words. 

“Lex I…I...” 

Then his eyes slid shut and his body went slack. The words  _ I love you  _ dying with him on his lips. 

All of a sudden, Ethan felt himself floating. 

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, it might have been seconds or years, but at least he felt  _ something _ . 

Experimentally, he opened his eyes and found himself staring into inky blackness. He hovered in a void so dark the color was almost solid. Somehow, it was darker with his eyes open than it had been with them closed. He shivered. He knew instinctively that wherever the hell he was, he was completely alone. 

Ethan tried to move, to look at his surroundings, but it was like moving through oil. It almost seemed like there was some invisible strongman holding him in place, preventing him from moving. 

_ Deep breaths, Ethan.  _ He told himself. He’d given Hannah that advice once, may as well take it for himself. 

He tried to suck in a lungful of air, but he gagged as soon as he opened his mouth. It was like his throat was closed up by something solid all of a sudden. He tried again, but his lungs rejected the breath yet again. 

Ethan began to shake. He was terrified. If this was what being dead was like, he wasn’t sure he could take it. He squeezed his eyes shut like a little kid, something he never would have done back when he was alive when there were actual people with him. But now there was nobody to judge him. There was nobody at all. 

When Ethan ventured a peek, he was blinded by white. The black hole he was in before was gone, replaced by sterile, pristine white as far as the eye could see. But it was no better, the white no less suffocating and oppressive than the black. Now Ethan felt like he was in one of those white rooms in mental hospitals - slowly being driven insane. 

Black and White. Hannah had kept repeating something about the Black and White. It seemed there was something to it, after all.

Ethan blinked, and the White was gone, replaced once again by the inky mass that was the Black. He tried to hold on to something from his life. Anything to avoid thinking about where he was right now. 

_ Lex. Hannah.  _ The memories of them were starting to fade from his head. The last good things he had and they were starting to disappear. That made him more scared than the oppressive black. He was afraid that without Lex and Hannah,  _ he  _ would disappear, be swallowed by the darkness surrounding him. 

He felt tears well up in his eyes. That never happened. Ethan wasn’t a crier. He could never afford to be a crier. 

_ Well, I guess I can be one now, can’t I.  _

The sensation of tears running down his cheeks was almost a welcome one, because he  _ felt  _ it,  __ the salty water on his face, the way his body shook as he started to sob. He didn’t think he would ever be grateful to cry. 

He tried to focus on them, desperately clinging to the memory of Lex’s smile. The sound of Hannah’s rare but beautiful laughter. He clung to them with everything he could muster. 

_ Ethan.  _ A voice entered Ethan’s head. A female voice. These weren’t his own thoughts. It was something else talking to him. Somehow, though, Ethan knew that whatever this was, it wasn’t malevolent. It was trying to help him. 

_ Ethan, you can’t give in. You have to go back. Lex and Hannah need you if they’re going to get out of Hatchetfield.  _

_How?_ He thought back experimentally. He was calmer now. This was giving him something to focus on. Or maybe he was just going crazy, one of the two. _I’m dead_ _and trapped in whatever the hell this place is._

_ I can help you,  _ The voice in his head replied.  _ But time is of the essence. Hannah is in grave, grave danger.  _

That set every one of Ethan’s nerves buzzing. Whatever he had to do, he was not going to let anything happen to Hannah Foster. 

_ What do I have to do?  _

_ Focus on your memories. Focus on who you were when you were alive. Focus on what you need to do with every part of you. Can you do that?  _

_ Yes.  _ Ethan closed his eyes one more time. Focusing on who he was - that came easier now. His name was Ethan Green, and he was going to find Hannah and Lex, the only two people in the world who he loved, get the fuck out of this mall, get the fuck out of Hatchetfield, and get those girls to California. Even if it killed him. Again. 

He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, and repeated the mantra. A loud thumping pounding in his ears, surrounding him. 

_ Good luck, Ethan,  _ The voice said.  _ I’ll help you when I can.  _

Then Ethan felt something entirely different. He was lying on something cold and hard. He realized the thumping he had heard in the Black and White was his own heartbeat. Somehow, whatever had spoken to him in the Black and White had brought him back to life. 


	3. Chapter 3 - Ethan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan finds Hannah, but things very quickly go downhill.

Ethan tried to sit up but immediately gasped in pain and laid back down. Apparently, the Friendly Black and White monster’s powers did not extend to healing cuts, bruises and stab wounds, though he figured he shouldn’t be ungrateful. After all, he was alive. However, he was currently lying in a concerning puddle of, presumably, his own blood, which did not bode well for his future survival. 

Think. He had to think. Take stock of his situation. It had never been Ethan’s strong suit, but now it was necessary. For Lex and Hannah’s sake. 

He took a few deep breaths, enjoying how good it felt to be able to breathe again. 

He lay on the ground, near the bench where he and Hannah had sat after he’d gotten thrown out of the Cineplex. His head still felt fuzzy but didn’t hurt quite as much as it had before, so that was good, maybe he hadn’t suffered permanent brain damage. It really hurt to move his left arm, though not his right. Okay. One out of two wasn’t bad. The gaping knife wound in his side: definitely a problem. He needed to stop the flow of blood, or he would pass out, or worse, die again. Friendly Black and White Voice had helped him once, but Ethan knew instinctively that it was up to him now. If something happened, she wouldn’t be able to bring him back a second time. 

His hand brushed his flannel, still somehow wrapped around his waist. Not ideal, but it would do for a bandage until he could find something better. His fingers fumbled with the knot around his waist, and after a lot of painful fiddling, it came undone. 

Now for the hard part. Ethan bit down on the sleeve of his leather jacket, hard, and slowly, excruciatingly, pushed himself up into a seated position, so that he could tie the flannel around his stomach. He peeled his t-shirt off of the wound, nauseated by how much effort it took to pull it away. He made a point not to think about the fact that the wet sticky stuff was his own blood. 

Slowly, very slowly, he wrapped the flannel around the wound and pulled it tight. It really hurt his bad arm, but the pressure helped to ease the pain in his side slightly, and hopefully, it would stop the bleeding. 

Ethan scooted so that his head rested on the bench’s armrest and sat there for a few seconds until the pain went from pure torture to, well, less torturous, then, using the bench for support, he staggered to his feet. He had to find Hannah, then Lex. 

Oh, God, Lex. Toy Zone had been where this mess all started, and she was caught in the middle of it. She might not even be alive. 

Ethan pushed the thought from his head. He would see Lex Foster again. She could take care of herself, and he had promised her to look after Hannah. That was a promise that he was going to keep.

“Hang in there, Banana.” He said to the empty mall. “I’m comin’ for ya.” 

Ethan set off in the direction of the Marshall’s. 

When he was closing in on the Playplace, he heard Hannah scream. He picked up speed, going as fast as his tired, beaten body would allow. 

“Banana Split?” He called desperately as he reached the entrance. No reply. Ethan’s heart sank. “Hannah? Are you here?” 

He saw hesitant movement at the back of the McDonald’s. A small figure, with a backpack, a hat, crawled out of the kiddie tunnel and stood on the opposite side of the ball pit from him. Ethan’s heart soared. She was okay! She was here, and she was okay!

He reached out with his good hand and smiled. “What’s shakin’, Banana!” 

Hannah yelped and moved back. “No! Bad!” 

Ethan furrowed his brow. Hannah had never reacted to him like this before, not even the first time they’d met. Then he remembered that he probably looked like a zombie extra on  _ The Walking Dead,  _ which may have been a little bit scary for a small child. 

“Sorry, Banana Split,” Ethan said, going to move around the ball pit to get to her. “I know I probably look kinda scary right now, but I promise that I’m gonna be okay. We gotta get going. Stick together, you know? We gotta find Lex and get the heck out of this mall.” 

“No! Not Ethan! Bad Double!” Hannah screamed. “Ethan died! Webby told me Ethan died! You’re not getting Wiggly!” 

Now Ethan was even more confused. 

“Hannah, what do you mean ‘Bad Double?’ I know you’re scared, but it’s me, it’s Ethan. I gave you that hat this morning!” He put his hands up in a placating gesture. “I don’t want Wiggly, Hannah. I just wanna get you outta here.” 

Even as he said it, the Wiggly doll that inexplicably lay on the ground was whispering in his head. Telling him that if he just took the doll from the little brat, then he could make it to California and beyond. He could go anywhere he wanted. 

_ Focus, Ethan.  _ Nice Black and White Voice returned.  _ Don’t listen to the doll. Focus on Hannah.  _

Ethan shook his desire for Wiggly off. He didn’t understand how, exactly, but he knew that Wiggly was causing all of this. The men who had attacked him were after a Wiggly doll. Wiggly was bad, and the thing wasn’t worth seven thousand dollars. Hell, it probably wasn’t worth seven. 

Ethan mentally told Wiggly to go fuck himself, and he could feel the doll’s presence begrudgingly retreat from his head. He had more important things to do than worry about a stuffed tentacle monster. Like get Hannah out of here. 

“You can’t trick me again!” Hannah screamed. “You died!” 

“I did.” Ethan didn’t want to scare her, but he had to tell her. “But… But something brought me back so I can save you and Lex. Hannah, I think it might have been Webby. If you don’t trust me, ask her. She’ll tell you.” 

If Hannah was going to reply, she didn’t get the chance, because two other people entered the McDonald’s, crazed hunger in their eyes. 

One of them was Ethan’s shop teacher - the only one he’d ever actually liked, and the only one who’d ever actually liked him: Mr. Houston. The other was a lady in nursing scrubs that Ethan didn’t know. They both had their eyes fixed on Hannah. 

_ Oh, shit.  _

“Hello, little girl,” the woman said, as she and Mr. Houston began to snake their way around the edge of the ballpit opposite Ethan. “Why don’t you give us that doll.” 

Hannah moved back a few steps. 

“Woah, woah, where do you think you’re going, sweetheart?” Nursing Scrubs asked. 

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Mr. Houston promised, taking another step around the ball pit and toward Hannah. 

Ethan felt useless. He was leaning up against the wall of the McDonald’s. He could feel that the knife wound in his side had started to bleed again. Mr. Houston was taller and stronger than even Ethan in the best of times, if he had to fight, he wasn’t sure if he could protect Hannah, he wasn’t even sure he could limp fast enough to make it to her.

“California.” Hannah’s voice pulled him out of his stupor, and if he hadn’t been so terrified, her determination would have warmed his heart. “I’m going to go to California. And you shouldn’t listen to Wiggly, he’s bad. He’ll trick you.” 

“Mr. Houston, she’s right!” Ethan chimed in. “That Wiggly doll is corrupting people, you don’t actually want it.” 

The two adults completely ignored him. 

“Don’t worry, little girl.” Mr. Houston gave what Ethan figured was supposed to be a reassuring smile, but it just looked like a grimace. “We’re grown ups, we don’t get tricked.” 

When Hannah took another step back, Mr. Houston got impatient. 

“Listen, kid. I’ve been through hell today tryin’ to get one of those dolls for my son. He’s about your age.” Mr. Houston’s polite mask dropped, and he seemed to grow bigger in the darkness. A monster straight out of a children’s nightmare. “I’d do anything for him. ANY goddamn thing. Even if it means pounding the guts out of a little TWERP! NOW GIMME THAT FUCKING DOLL!” 

He wheeled on Hannah, who screamed and ran deeper into the McDonald’s, disappearing into some dark corner. 

“Leave her the fuck alone, you assholes,” Ethan cried desperately. He managed to push himself off the wall and started to move toward Mr. Houston and Nursing Scrubs. “I’m the one you want!” 

Again, they ignored him, now consumed in an argument with each other. 

“You let her get away!” Nursing Scrubs snapped. “You really are a fucking idiot, aren’t you?” 

“Well, I didn’t see you coming up with any ideas, cheer captain!” Mr. Houston shot back. 

“Oh, fuck off!” 

This was good. If they were consumed with their argument, then maybe Ethan could sneak Hannah out without them noticing. 

“Hannah,” He whispered as loud as he dared. “Banana, we gotta go!”

He saw her peek her head out from behind a jungle gym in the back. He gave her an encouraging nod that he didn’t know if she could see, then started forward as quietly as he could, hoping to meet her halfway. 

Abruptly, Hannah stopped and ducked, and Ethan turned back to Mr. Houston and Nursing Scrubs, who had finished yelling at each other, and were now scanning the Playplace. 

“You see, Tom.” Nursing Scrubs said. “You don’t scream at a child, it frightens them.” She turned with a blissful, insane smile directly towards Ethan, who had to fight the urge to scream like a five-year-old and run away. She almost looked through him. 

“You lure them in delicately,” she said as she fished in her pocket. Triumphantly, she pulled out a syringe filled with some kind of blue liquid. Ethan assumed it was a sedative. “And you put them to sleep.” 

Oh,  _ hell  _ no. Ethan was the one on drugs around here. 

“Little girl?” Nursing Scrubs called out in a sickly-sweet voice. “Sweetheart? California?” 

Ethan reached down to the ball pit, wincing in pain as the movement agitated the wound on his stomach, and closed his fist around one of the rubber balls. Straightening, he chucked it at the wall farthest from Hannah as hard as he could. It gave a satisfying  _ thwack  _ when it hit, and Mr. Houston and Nursing Scrubs twisted towards the noise and made their way towards it, 

“Do you want to play with me, lovely girl?” Nursing Scrubs said in a soothing, singsong voice. It could have been mistaken for a lullaby if not for her sinister tone and the needle she so subtly hid behind her back. “Do you want some candy, my lovely girl?” 

Ethan saw Hannah poke her head out, and he gestured to her to hurry up. She hesitated, obviously still wary of him because of whatever she had seen. She closed her eyes for a moment. 

Somehow, Ethan heard her thoughts.

_ Webby? Is it Good Ethan?  _

_ Yes, Hannah, it is.  _ The same female voice that had saved Ethan in the Black and White replied to her. Ethan had been right, it  _ had  _ been Webby. Apparently, since he had died, he now had some sort of connection to the Black and White. 

Hannah opened her eyes and smiled at him. She didn't need words for Ethan to know that she trusted him again. They were back on track. She started to move towards him, but her hesitation had been a second too long. 

“Hey, Becky,” Tom said, turning back from the wall where they had found nothing. The woman with the syringe turned to look at him. “There she is.” 

“Hannah!” Ethan cried desperately. “Come on! Hurry! I gotta get you out of here!”

Hannah made up her mind and sprinted towards Ethan. As she began to run, Tom and Nursing Scrubs, who apparently was named Becky picked up speed and started to gain on her. 

“Come on, Hannah!” 

Hannah reached Ethan, and he moved aside to allow her to move past him on the edge of the ball pit. She scurried past the ball pit and to the entrance and turned to wait for him. 

He started after her, stumbling as fast as he could. He had almost made it to the entrance when Hannah’s eyes widened. 

“Ethan!” She yelped. “Run! Fast!” 

He didn’t need to turn around to know that Tom and Becky were right behind him. He tried to run, though every step hurt. He wasn’t nearly quick enough. Even in the best of times, Mr. Houston was faster than he was. 

Ethan cried out as Mr. Houston grabbed his bad arm, as all the pain that had been subsiding came flooding back. Mr. Houston’s other hand pinned Ethan’s arms to his sides. 

“Aww,” Becky Nursing Scrubs said in that same sickly-sweet voice. “Poor boy. You’re hurt. Let me help.” 

“No!” Ethan struggled, but to absolutely no avail. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hannah, once again frozen in shock. “Mr. Houston, please, let me go,” he begged. “It’s me, it’s Ethan Green. Ethan. You know me, Mr. Houston, I was in your shop class, snap out of it! Don't do this! Mr. Houston -” 

“I don’t know you!” Mr. Houston snapped. “All I know. All I want is Wiggly. Now shut up.” He turned to his partner. “Becky, would you hurry up and stick him? He’s keeping me from Wiggly and it’s pissing me off!” 

Ethan was absolutely helpless as Becky jammed the needle into his neck. He felt his eyes closing. The world going dark once again, and that same rush of panic that he’d had before welled up. Mr. Houston dropped him like a sack of potatoes on the mall floor.

“Run, Hannah,” He murmured. He had no idea if she could hear him. “Run.” 

“No!” Hannah started running back toward them. Wrong direction, Hannah. “Not leaving again! Gotta stick together!” 

Mr. Houston grabbed her just as easily as he’d grabbed Ethan, locking her in his arms so she couldn’t escape.

The last thing Ethan saw before he blacked out was Becky raising the needle over Hannah’s head, he made a noise of despair as she brought it down. Then something surprising happened. She missed Hannah completely and stabbed her own leg with the needle, immediately collapsing next to Ethan. 

_ Huh, that was weird.  _

Then everything faded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments/Kudos are always very much appreciated! 
> 
> Come vibe with me on Tumblr: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	4. Chapter 4 - Lex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because I'm evil, I'm making you wait to find out what happened to Ethan and Hannah, but here's some Lex to tide you over. 
> 
> Lex is given authorization to use a firearm, and makes her grand superhero plan. Kind of.

_ This is not how I wanted it to end.  _

That was all Lex Foster could think as she knelt on the floor of the Toy Zone stockroom, Sherman Young’s arm wrapped tightly around her neck, constricting her breathing. It was not how she imagined that she was going to die. 

Fighting her mother, maybe. Defending Hannah from her drunken wrath. Or saving a small child from the middle of the road and getting hit by a car. Something heroic, something she would be remembered for. Or, after a nice, long life in California, she would die peacefully in bed with Hannah and Ethan by her side. Instead it was this. 

Dying in the stockroom of a shitty toy store, in a town she had sworn that her life would not end in. A town where the only two people who loved her were likely dead already. She was alone. No one would save her. California would die with her. That’s what she got for wishing. 

Only her ashes would ever see the sea. 

_ It was a nice dream while it lasted.  _

The edges of Lex’s vision began to go black as Sherman squeezed harder. She was strangely calm. It didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. It was almost like falling asleep with her eyes open. She refused to close them. She wanted to look death straight in the face. 

It was serene in a way, almost beautiful. There was no noise, and Lex could vaguely hear the sounds of seagulls and wind through trees, how the beaches were in the movies. Maybe dying wouldn’t be so bad. Then Lex’s oxygen-deprived mind went to her two last regrets. 

Her biggest regret, of course, was Hannah. She would never see her little sunshine sister again. Never get to hold her again -  _ God, she’d miss holding Hannah.  _ Hannah had been the only thing worth living for, for such a long time. They needed each other. Lex hoped that she could go on alone. She was strong. And Lex was leaving. And her sister was going to be murdered by the psychotic, toy-worshipping cult that Linda Monroe was leading out in Toy Zone. Hannah wouldn’t be shown any mercy. 

_ Sorry, I couldn’t save you, Banana.  _

Her other regret was Ethan Green. Funny, dumb, loyal, brave, incredible Ethan Green. Ethan Green, who let her cry on his shoulder and cried on hers. Ethan Green who was really good with anything mechanical. Ethan Green, who, on a day that Lex had a big test, cut school to take care of Hannah when she was sick and Lex’s mom was too drunk to be bothered, knowing full well he would earn a beating for skipping. Ethan Green, who she kissed and smoked and dreamed with. Ethan Green, whom she  _ loved _ . She’d never had the courage to actually tell him that. 

_ Now, I’ll never get the chance.  _

If he had stayed with Hannah, as Lex was certain he had, the cult would kill him too. There would only be ashes in California. 

Suddenly, it hurt a lot more to die. Lex gave up the “facing-death-with-my-eyes-open” shtick and allowed her vision to go dark. She didn’t want to look anymore. 

“You aren’t dead yet,” a new voice said. Lex managed to open her eyes and look to her right. A man, with shoulder-length hair and a scruffy beard, dressed in black combat fatigues and what looked like one of those weird floppy artist hats, floated a few feet off the ground. Sherman wasn’t reacting to this intrusion, so Lex figured this was some sort of near-death hallucination. 

“Alexandra Foster,” Lex’s near-death hallucination said in an authoritative tone. “My name is General John MacNamara and I’m going to help you through this.” 

“Wh-what?” Lex managed to gasp out.    


“First, you need to subdue your assailant,” General John MacNamara said, efficiently removing a gun from a holster at his belt. He flipped it around and offered it to Lex, handle first. “I’m authorizing you to use my firearm.” 

This was cruelty - Someone offering to save her, to give her a fighting chance to save her family. And it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. And yet Lex found herself raising her arm, desperately stretching for the weapon. 

“I can’t reach it,” she choked. 

“Yes, you can.” General MacNamara looked Lex directly in the eye. “Your sister has always had the power. Something tells me your friend has it too now. You have it.” 

Lex barely had time to process that.  _ Power? What the fuck was this guy talking about.  _

“Reach into the Black and White. You must manifest this weapon into your reality.” 

The Black and White. That was the thing that Hannah always talked about. 

Okay, so this definitely was a hallucination. Lex could barely manifest the will to get up in the morning. She could not manifest things from other dimensions. She felt like she would have known that about herself. So why did that statement set every single one of her cells jumping, and not because she was being strangled. 

“Look me in the eye, now, Lex,” the general barked. “Become your best self. If Wiggly’s been born, then who knows what will happen. But people are depending on you. It’s time to lead.” General MacNamara’s image began to flicker. “Time is running out. It’s time to make your choice.” 

Lex somehow stretched her arm a little farther. Her mind was clear. She could not give up. She  _ would  _ not give up. For Hannah. For Ethan. For herself. 

“I’m gonna kill you,” Sherman hissed in her ear. 

_ No the fuck he was not.  _

Adrenaline rushed through her. Before Lex even knew what she was doing, she dislodged Sherman, twisted and pulled the trigger. 

Direct hit. 

Sherman stumbled back. “Where did  _ that  _ come from?” 

Then he collapsed. Dead. 

Lex gasped. The gravity of what she had done began to sink in. She had  _ killed  _ someone. Sure, she had done it in self-defense but she had still killed someone, and she felt horribly guilty. 

“Nice shot, Lex.” General MacNamara’s image was definitely beginning to fade now. Still there, but less substantial. Apparently, Lex wasn’t hallucinating. Hallucinations didn’t give people guns. “But we aren’t through yet. The leaders of your world are lost and helpless. You’ve been called to serve.” He spoke louder, now, as if afraid Lex wouldn’t be able to hear. “If you can defeat Wiggly here in Hatchetfield, then he can be defeated anywhere.” 

That seemed like a tall order for Superman. But here, it was wildly hopeless. She was Lex Foster - a high school dropout with no prospects and a drug addiction and who was  _ definitely  _ not Superman, no matter what weird-ass power she had just discovered.  _ She  _ was being called upon to save the world. What could she possibly do? 

Then, she thought of Hannah. Of Ethan, and her resolve hardened. 

“What do I have to do?” 

“Gather your forces,” General MacNamara said. His image was so faint now that he was almost impossible to see. “There is a warrior of light trapped in a deep sleep. Wake the warrior. Kill the prophet. Save the world.” 

Oh, was that all. 

General MacNamara gave Lex a salute, then faded into nothingness, leaving her alone in darkness. 

Lex stayed on her knees for a few moments, trying to catch her breath and process what had just happened. 

Okay. First, a man had appeared while Lex was being strangled in a toy store stockroom and had told her she could manifest things from other dimensions. Then she had actually  _ done  _ that, and shot Sherman Young with an actual bullet. And now she had to gather some forces, kill the prophet, and save the world. 

Awesome and totally doable. Except for literally all of that. 

First, Lex did not have any forces. The only possible ally that she would have had in Toy Zone was  _ Frank.  _ And he was dead. 

Second, the prophet, presumably Linda, had an entire goon squad of crazy people surrounding her, and, going back to problem one, Lex was by herself. 

She could have kept going, but this already seemed impossible. 

She glanced out the stockroom window to the loading bay at the back. Was it possible that just this morning she was there, with Ethan and Hannah, laughing and dreaming about California?

It seemed like a million years ago. 

She saw Mr. Houston’s car, still in the no-parking zone, with a bright pink ticket on the windshield and laughed, despite herself. God, had really been this morning that she’d seen…

_ Holy shit, Mr. Houston.  _

Maybe Lex wasn’t entirely alone in this mall. Maybe, possibly, in a one-in-a-bazillion chance, she could find Mr. Houston, and he wouldn’t be corrupted by Wiggly. And if she found Mr. Houston, maybe she could find Hannah and Ethan and get out of this mall. Maybe she could save the world. Maybe she’d even make it to California. Maybe she'd just die, but damn if Lex wasn't going to die fighting. 

Lex got to her feet and cocked her new pistol. 

General MacNamara had told her to gather her forces. So that was what Lex was going to do. 

“Stay alive, you two,” she said to empty air. “I’m coming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Comments/kudos are always very much appreciated and make me very happy!  
> Tumblr for spicy memes: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	5. Chapter 5 - Hannah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan won't wake up and Hannah tries to be brave as they're captured by the lady in the black cape.

Hannah wormed her way out from underneath Nurse Becky’s sleeping form and crawled over to Ethan. He looked bad. He looked  _ hurt,  _ like he looked when he came to their trailer sometimes at night, telling Lexie it had been “bad at home.”

__ He needed some help, but the nurse lady got stabbed by the needle too. 

Nurses weren’t supposed to miss. Every time Hannah got a shot at the doctor, the nurse had hit her arms just fine. It was scary, but it was quick, and Lexie said that they were to make her feel better. 

Hannah shook his shoulder to try and wake him up. “Ethan? Gotta go.” He didn’t move. He didn’t open his eyes. This was bad. She shook harder. “Ethan? Wake up! Gotta get out!” 

Maybe she should run. Find someplace to hide again. It’s what Ethan would want her to do. 

Last time she left, he had died. 

Hannah’s fingers shook as she pulled Ethan’s head into her lap. She bent over him and buried her face in his chest. 

“Can’t leave again,” she whispered into Ethan’s chest. “Webby. What do I do?” 

_ The hat, Hannah. Use the hat,  _ Webby whispered in her head. 

Ethan’s hat. The magic hat given to him by the great warrior. Maybe if she gave it to him, it would wake him up. She didn’t want to take it off, though. All this time, she felt like it had been keeping her safe. Maybe it had kept her safe from the nurse. 

Hannah took the hat off her head, and played with it a minute. What were its powers? It was definitely magic. She could tell. But could it really heal Ethan? 

“The hat, the hat,” Hannah muttered. “What does the hat do. What does it do? Will it save us?” 

No answer from Webby. Maybe she didn’t even know. Hannah had to do it. 

She started to put Ethan’s hat on his head, when someone pulled on her hair, hard. 

She yelped. It hurt. Ethan’s hat was still clutched in her fingers. She jammed it back on her head and tried to squirm away from the people holding on to her, but she couldn’t. 

“This is her,” said a man’s voice behind her. “The little girl with the backpack.” 

The man knelt down next to her, still holding her braid. Hannah recognized him. It was the guard from the Cineplex, the one who had taken them out after Ethan didn’t have enough money to get them tickets. 

The man looked down at Ethan, who wasn’t moving, his head still cradled in Hannah’s lap. 

“No. Bad blood,” Hannah said. She wished Ethan would wake up soon. “Leave!” 

The man surveyed Ethan. He took in Ethan’s bruises. The red stain on his shirt. 

“Her protector!” His friend, who now crouched on Hannah’s other side, announced. Hannah shook her head violently. 

He looked kind of funny. He had a wrinkled suit and a tie around his head. Hannah would have laughed, but she was too scared. She recognized him, too, now. One of the men that attacked her and Ethan outside Toy Zone. He was bad. 

“Then he’s a heretic, no doubt!” The guard declared. “We’ll bring him with us.” 

“And her?” The tie man said, indicating the nurse. “She’s gotta be a heretic too.” 

“We shall bring her as well!” A third man’s voice said. He swaggered into the food court. Hannah recognized him too. He had a sweatshirt and a hat. He looked strong. He had stabbed Ethan with a knife back at the Cineplex.

“I thought you could use some help,” the third man said. “The prophet will reward us greatly!”

With that, he picked up Ethan’s body and tossed it over his shoulder. The guard grabbed Becky, and the man with the wrinkled suit and tie around his head pulled Hannah up by her braids and held onto her wrist tightly. 

Hannah felt like crying, but she wasn’t going to cry. She wouldn’t let them see her. Not now. Not today. She would be brave.

Ethan had told her she was brave once. Hannah thought about that as the bad men pulled her out of the food court. The thought made her stronger. 

* * *

The story went like this: Ethan was over one night, at the trailer. Their mom wasn’t there and Hannah couldn’t sleep. She kept tossing and turning in bed. Webby was whispering to her:  _ bad blood. Two doors not one. Black and white.  _ Hannah hadn’t known what it meant and she was scared, so she had called Lexie and Ethan into her bedroom. Ethan had asked if she had nightmares and she had nodded, looking down at the pink bedspread. 

“I’ll tell you what,” Ethan has said. “How about I tell you a story to scare the nightmares away, huh?” 

Lexie had scolded him, saying Hannah needed to get to bed. 

“No, I wanna hear a story!” 

“Ugh, Fine. One,” Lexie had said with a smile that she tried to hide. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.” 

“Alright, Banana Split,” Ethan said once she was gone. “I’m gonna tell you a story about a superhero, okay? And her name is Hannah.” 

So Ethan told her the story of SuperHannah, a little girl with magic powers, who talked to a spider in outer space and used her powers to save the world. She fought off bad guys and monsters and no nightmares could touch her. Hannah had felt brave when he said that, and nothing had plagued her at all that night. 

* * *

So that’s what Hannah thought about with all her mind as they pulled her through the mall towards Toy Zone. It made her brave, and she had to be brave, and then tell Ethan about it when he woke up, and then Lex when they found her. 

She was SuperHannah. Bad guys like this couldn’t stop her. 

The bad men pulled her across the threshold into Toy Zone and then stopped. Hannah ran into them and earned a sharp tug on her braid. It made her yelp in pain and surprise. 

She saw the man with the hat dump Ethan on the floor. He still wasn’t moving. He still looked bad. 

Suddenly Hannah didn’t feel so brave anymore. 

_ Be brave, Hannah.  _ Webby said in her head.  _ Ethan is going to need you to be brave. Think about SuperHannah. Help is coming. You just need to wait.  _

So Hannah tried to feel brave, even though it was hard. There were people taller and stronger than her on all sides of her, and they all stared at her. They looked hungry and crazy, the way that Mr. Houston and the nurse had looked back at McDonald’s. 

But she was SuperHannah. 

“I’m SuperHannah,” she whispered. “I’m SuperHannah, I’m SuperHannah.” 

“Shut up, little girl,” said a new voice, one far above her. A woman’s voice that seemed sort of familiar. 

“Yes, Gerald,” The woman’s voice said. Hannah presumed she was talking on the phone. “I’m about to get the doll.” 

Hannah looked up above her and gasped. All thoughts of SuperHannah disappeared, because there, on the second floor of Toy Zone, was the one person Hannah hoped to hide from. 

There, on the second floor, leering down at Hannah, was the woman in the black cape. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The SuperHannah story is based on a disgustingly fluffy thing I came up with and will expand upon in the form of a oneshot, because I don't spend ALL of my time hurting my characters 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed!   
> Comments/Kudos always super appreciated!   
> Tumblr for feelings about Ethan and the Fosters: thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	6. Chapter 6 - Lex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex finds Mr. Houston, who doesn't quite remember things correctly, and hears heartbreaking news about Ethan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AKA the chapter in which Mr. Houston is Ethan's school dad confirmed and also i make everyone sad.

Lex knew what she needed to do. It was a simple step by step. Get out of this stockroom, find Mr. Houston, get him to help her find Hannah and Ethan, get out of the mall. Boom. California. 

How she was going to do all of those things, Lex had no idea. She had no idea how she was even going to get out of the stockroom. Linda and her psycho cult were still there, weren’t they? 

_ Were they?  _ Lex didn’t hear any of the clamor and she had heard earlier. That should have made her feel better, it instead made her uneasy. If the cult was here, then she could keep tabs on them, knowing for sure that they were still just worshipping Linda and not hunting down anybody’s sister or sort-of-boyfriend. 

If the cult wasn’t here, then where were they? 

_ Shit. Shit. Fuck Shit. _

Lex needed to get out of this stockroom and get to Ethan and Hannah. In desperation, she looked to the window. She could smash it, and get outside to the loading lot. This was where all the trucks on this side of the mall unloaded their shit. There was a door not ten feet from here that led into the Famous Footwear next door. She could get out, and get right back in without being spotted. That was a half-decent plan. But if the cultists were there and they heard her… 

She couldn’t break it. But maybe it was already open? 

Lex crept to the window as quietly as she could, not daring to breathe, and ventured a look outside. In the first instance of something going right all day, the coast was clear. The cult must not have considered someone going out this way, and so hadn’t bothered to block it off. 

_ Sweet.  _

Lex tried the window, and almost jumped up and down for joy when it began to slide. The window got stuck in a couple of places, and required some effort, and a bit more noise than Lex would have liked, but damn if it wasn’t opening. 

Finally, Lex created a big enough gap for her to crawl out. She had to be absolutely silent. Even if Linda had sent all of her goonies out to search for Hannah, she wouldn’t have been stupid enough to send everyone. She’d have guards. Fortunately, she’d had some practice with this, thanks to Mom. She stuck her new pistol in her belt, and swung one leg out of the window, then ducked her head through next, twisting to catch the window with her left hand. It was sort of an awkward position, but it worked. Then, she swung out her other leg, shut the window, and behold, Lex, the fucking ninja, was out. 

Lex the Ninja had a nice ring to it. Maybe she’d ask Ethan to incorporate it into one of the bedtime stories he took great pride in making up for Hannah. 

_ If he’s alive,  _ the cynical part of Lex thought.  _ And if Hannah’s alive.  _

Lex tried to shake the thought off. If she got too caught up in thinking about what might have happened to Ethan and Hannah, she’d lose it. Then she’d have no chance of finding them or getting out of this mall alive. She had to stay focused on her mission. 

With another glance around to double-check that the coast was clear, Lex started to dart towards the shoe store loading entrance. 

It was locked. 

_ Damn it.  _ This plan had been working too well for something not to go wrong. 

She could sneak back into the stockroom? Try another store? 

Sneaking back into the stockroom left her with absolutely nowhere to go, so that was out. Lex also didn’t have time to run up and down the length of the mall checking doors when Ethan and Hannah’s lives were at stake. 

Then, Lex heard noise. The sound of heavy footsteps on pavement. Someone muttering to himself. 

_ Fuuuuuckk  _

This was bad. Really bad. If any one of Linda’s cultists found her, it was game over. They wouldn’t let her escape twice. 

Lex scrambled back towards the Toy Zone stockroom window and pushed it open. She started to swing back through the window when the figure came around the corner, and made a beeline for Mr. Houston’s car. 

_ Holy shit. It was Mr. Houston.  _

He had his back to her. He looked a lot worse than he had that morning. His hair was a mess, and he was sporting some nice bruises, probably from the riots in Toy Zone. But he was alive, and looked in reasonable shape to maybe help Lex fight Linda. Lex was really lucking out today. 

She was about to say something, to let him know he was there, when Mr. Houston lifted his arm, and Lex saw what he was carrying. In a death grip, underneath his arm, Mr. Houston had a Wiggly. 

Lex’s hand went to the gun at her belt. She really didn’t want to hurt Mr. Houston. Maybe she should just let him leave with Wiggly, but she couldn’t do that. Mr. Houston had a kid. If she let him bring that thing home what would happen? 

And maybe, if Lex tried. She could save a few more people than just Hannah and Ethan. She was Lex Foster. She was a fuckin fighter. 

She made her choice. 

“Mr. Houston!” She said, climbing back out the window and taking the gun off her belt. 

“Leave me alone!” Mr. Houston snapped. 

“Turn around.” Lex kept the gun steadily trained on him. She wouldn’t use it unless she had to, but it was a comfort to have it nonetheless. 

Mr. Houston turned. His eyes were unfocused and glowing green. He looked first at Lex, then at the gun. 

“What,” Mr. Houston said, in the voice he used when he was asking her how her day at school was going, or reassuring her that she could turn in her shop projects a day late. It was understanding and kind. But Lex didn’t lower the gun. “You gonna shoot me, Lex? Or can I just go home?”

Lex didn’t move. 

“I’ve had a shitty day,” Mr. Houston said angrily. His entire tone and demeanor changed. The facade Wiggly made him put on apparently didn’t last long. “So I’d appreciate it if you got the goddamn gun out of my face!” 

“Please, Mr. Houston,” Lex said. She didn’t think she’d ever said please to Mr. Houston in her life, but if Wiggly could put facades up then so could she. “I need your help. Ethan needs your help. But I need you to put down that doll.” 

Mr. Houston started at that, as if trying to remember something. She knew Mr. Houston liked Ethan. While Lex was passable in shop, Ethan was stellar. It was the only class he actually enjoyed, and the only class he’d ever tried in. Mr. Houston noticed, and it was clear to everyone that Ethan, and Lex, who he started liking by association, were his favorite students. Sometimes, Lex would find Ethan in Mr. Houston’s room after school, chatting about mechanical physics or car models or whatever. Anyway, Lex knew that Mr. Houston had a soft spot for Ethan Green. 

“Don’t try to trick me with thoughts of the damned kid,” Mr. Houston growled. “Why would I give Wiggly to you, when you just want him for yourself! Thought you were better than that, Lex.” 

“No, I don’t,” Lex said, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. “Ethan really does need our help, Hannah too, and I don’t know who else to turn to!” 

“Well, too bad, Lex,” Mr. Houston shouted, so loudly that Lex almost wanted to hit him with the gun to shut him up. “Because I’m leavin’ and taking this doll to my son!” 

“He doesn’t want it!” Lex shouted. Maybe if she said it loud enough, it would get through Mr. Houston’s head. “Think about it, did Tim ever  _ say  _ he wanted a Tickle-Me-Wiggly?” 

She hoped to God she was right. 

Mr, Houston looked confused, like for the first time, he was pondering if his son really  _ had _ asked for a Wiggly, as he’d been so certain Tim had that morning. 

“He, he must have…” Mr. Houston said hesitantly. “Yeah, we were trying to win one at… at Pizza Pete’s! No, wait… He said he wanted one this morning. Oh, whatever, I know he wants one!” 

“Lemme tell you what I know.” Lex changed tactics. If Ethan wasn’t going to work, then Tim had to. “I know your wife died, and you’re trying real hard to make up for it. But that is something you want, not your son.” Mr. Houston looked up at her, looking as if he was seeing her for the first time. “You think Wiggly can fix this hole, but it is a trick. And if you bring that doll back to your house, he is going to get hurt. I know it. And I think you do, too. But I think you’re scared, because if Wiggly isn’t the answer, then what is?” 

Mr. Houston looked at Lex, then back at the doll for a long time. He seemed to be seriously considering what she had to say. 

_ Please, please,  _ Lex prayed. To Webby. To General MacNamara. To anyone that might be listening.  _ Just let this work.  _

Finally, after a million years of the two of them, standing in silence, Lex looking at Mr. Houston, and Mr. Houston looking at the doll, Mr. Houston spoke again.

“You’re not really that cute, are you?” He said softly. “In fact, you’re real fucking ugly!” 

Mr. Houston threw the doll on the ground and stepped on it, and Lex couldn’t help letting out a happy whoop. 

“Thank god!” She said happily. “Now, we just gotta get back into the mall, and we can find Hannah and Ethan, and get the fuck outta here! All of us!” 

“Lex,” Mr. Houston said. He suddenly looked incredibly sad. “There is something that I need to tell you. It’s about Ethan.” 

Mr. Houston could have punched her in the face, and it would have hurt less. Lex knew what he was going to say before the words came out of his mouth. 

“Ethan is dead.” 

“No, no,” Lex’s lower lip began to tremble. She felt like she was holding the weight of the entire mall on her shoulders. “No, no, he can’t be…He isn’t.” 

“I found him outside the Cineplex, Lex,” Mr. Houston went on, seeming like he was trying to hold tears back himself. “He had been attacked. Think he stayed behind to protect your sister… There... There was nothing we could do. Becky and I, we stayed with him, though. He thought Becky was you, told her that he’d get you to California…then you wouldn’t have to cry so much anymore… I damn near started crying myself.” 

Lex broke down, then, and just started sobbing there in the mall parking lot. She, like Ethan, never really cried unless they were alone. Ethan would wrap her in his embrace that smelled like leather and cigarettes, and stroke her hair and whisper things about California until she stopped crying. Ethan who was now dead somewhere outside the Cineplex.  _ God,  _ she just wanted Ethan. 

_ Now I really won't get to tell him how much he means to me.  _

But now Mr. Houston came up and put his arm around her, and Lex didn’t push him away like she would have literally anyone else. She needed this right now. 

“I’m sorry, Lex,” Mr. Houston said softly. Now tears really were pricking his eyes. “I’m gonna miss him, too. He was a good kid.” 

“He would have been so pissed if you called him kid.” Lex almost smiled through her tears. 

“Yeah, he would have,” Mr. Houston replied with the same half-smile. Then it faded, as he pulled Lex up and wiped the tears off his face. “But those assholes, they took Becky and Hannah. And… And someone else.” Mr. Houston seemed to be struggling to remember. “He was there, with us. In the food court. I thought I recognized him… but, now… Wiggly must’ve fucked with my head.” 

“Whoever it is, we’ll help him,” Lex said firmly. She wiped her own tears away. She was on her feet now, both planted on the ground. The grief and shock over hearing about Ethan were still brewing in Lex’s heart, but she tried to channel it. Use it to make her angry. If she couldn’t save Ethan, she wouldn’t let his death be in vain. She would save her sister. “Linda Monroe, and Wiggly, are going to FUCKING pay!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up everyone, because the next chapter's a real train ride, buttttt it's my favorite so far. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, comments and kudos are always appreciated!! 
> 
> Tumblr for CoronaVirus Depressive Spiral Memes: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	7. Chapter 7 - Ethan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan has his moment of glory, and it lasts exactly that long.

Ethan woke up to the sound of laughter, of elated shouts and the name ‘Becky Barnes.’ He decided to wait to process that information until he sorted out whatever drug trip he was on. 

He was feeling somehow better than he had before, despite dying, coming back to life, and proceeding to be drugged by his shop teacher and his nurse friend. His head felt clear despite the tranquilizer, and when he tried to move his bad arm, he found it didn’t hurt. He could still feel that the stab wound wasn’t there, but even that didn’t hurt so much anymore. 

_ What was happening?  _

He opened his eyes and found Hannah’s face just above his, staring at him intently. He jumped a little bit. 

“Jesus Christ, Banana Split,” he murmured. “You scared me.” 

“Sorry,” Hannah whispered, moving so she wasn’t directly above Ethan’s face. She was cradling Ethan’s head in her lap. “Was worried. But the hat worked. Just like Webby said.” 

Ethan reached up a hand and found that he was wearing his hat, the hat he had given Hannah that morning outside Toy Zone. The hat he had told her was magic. Thinking about it, the fact that he’d had a magical hat in his possession wasn’t any weirder than anything else he’d experienced today. 

“The hat?” He whispered, matching Hannah’s tone. “Is it magic?” 

Hannah nodded, then looked around fearfully. “Lets Webby help. But they got us.” 

“Wait,” Ethan said. “Who got us?” 

Hannah gestured towards a large group of people clustered around the stairs to the second floor, who currently had their backs to them. “Bad guys. Lady in the black cape. They want Wiggly.” 

Fortunately, whoever the bad people were seemed to be ignoring them for now. 

With a grunt, Ethan sat up, and Hannah pressed herself against his side. He put an arm around her instinctively. 

He was surprised he had the energy to do that, but he thought about what Hannah said. The hat he was wearing let Webby help. Maybe she was the one behind this, sustaining him. 

_ You’re right,  _ Webby said in his head.  _ The hat enables me to lend you the strength to survive. But my power has limits. Especially here.  _

That almost cheered Ethan up. Webby was watching over him and Hannah. Whatever these assholes wanted, whatever they had in store for Ethan and Hannah, they had a spider from outer space watching over them. He didn't know how much she could do, but that made him feel a lot better.

“But where are we?” He wondered aloud. 

One glance around both answered his question and made him want to throw up. He and Hannah were in Toy Zone, but it was a mess. The register had been thrown against the wall, and the giant spool of twine they used for gift-wrapping was thrown carelessly in the middle of the floor. Lex had always made fun of that twine. 

_ Where are these kids gonna take ‘em? The fucking jungle? Why are we gift wrapping  _ children’s toys  _ with literal rope?  _ She would always say. 

That wasn’t the part that made Ethan want to throw up. 

The rest of the place was destroyed, too, save for a shelf of plush unicorns and a bin of flowery aluminum child’s softball bats tucked away in the corner. Why the unicorns had been spared, Ethan really wasn’t sure he wanted to know. That wasn’t the throw-up part either. 

The throw-up part was that ten feet away from where Ethan and Hannah lay, there was the dead body of Frank Pricely, Lex’s boss. He was lying in a pool of blood, flies already starting to gather around his body. Ethan had never liked the guy, but now he felt sorry for him. 

There was no sign of Lex. 

Ethan’s heart sank. What had these people done with her? 

He almost wanted to call out to her, but also really did not want to attract the attention of the cluster around the stairs, who were now laughing raucously. 

“And the only man that’s after her now is Jack Daniels!” Said a high-pitched, annoying woman’s voice that sounded familiar for some reason. 

It brought the entire house down. All of the adults, and adults they all seemed to be, apparently collectively thought that this was the most hilarious thing that they’d ever heard. 

“Whatever that joke was,” Ethan murmured. “It cannot have been  _ that  _ funny.” 

“Shhhh!” Hannah whispered. 

“Hey!” He heard. “The boy’s awake.” 

He looked towards the stairs to find that the entire cult was now staring at them. Without a word, Ethan slipped the hat off his head and gave it to Hannah. She took it without protest. 

“Yes, yes, excellent,” said the same woman’s voice. Where did Ethan know that voice from? “Bring the other heretics to me!” 

_ Hair-a-ticks?  _

Ethan didn’t know what that word meant, but it didn’t sound good. Was it some type of insect? Why would this lady be calling them bugs? 

“What’s a hair-a-tick?” He whispered to Hannah. 

Before she had a chance to answer, the group surrounded them. They hauled Ethan up by the arms and ripped Hannah away from him, pulling her along by her hair. 

“Hey!” he shouted indignantly. “Let her go!” 

The adults completely ignored him. They shoved him and Hannah forward and they stumbled to the bottom of the stairs, then circled around them, boxing them in so that they couldn’t escape. 

Ethan glanced around. His heart was racing. Becky Nursing Scrubs was here, too, but still very much unconscious and being held by two of the psychopaths who had brought them here. She would be of no help. 

_ Heretic,  _ Webby decided that now would be a great time to play dictionary in his mind, providing a helpful definition that just made things worse.  _ It’s a religious word. It means betraying a certain religion.  _

A shiver went down Ethan’s spine. Whoever these people were, they were calling Ethan and Hannah traitors. If there was one thing that Ethan remembered from Ancient History class, it was that traitors were punished by death. 

He had to get them out of this. He owed that to Lex. Also, he was not going to die in a fucking Toy Zone. 

“Get Becky Barnes out of my sight!” The woman’s voice, coming from directly above them now, ordered. 

Ethan looked up and gasped. He did know who this woman was, from the local cable channels that always interviewed her, and the way she had sneered at Ethan, talked down to him when he had been friends with Peter Monroe back in Elementary school. 

The leader of this insane cult, the religion that was after God-knew-what, and who had captured Ethan and Hannah, was the President of the Hatchetfield Boating Society, Linda Monroe. 

The two men holding Becky complied with Linda’s orders, dragging her through a door to the backroom, and out of sight. 

“What should we do with him?” One of the men asked, indicating Ethan. Ethan recognized his voice as the one that had raised the alarm that Ethan was awake. He glanced over. The man who had raised the alarm wore a blue zip-up hoodie and a checkered baseball cap. He looked chillingly familiar. Not because Ethan knew him from the outside world, but because it was one of the men who had attacked him and Hannah outside the Cineplex. The one who’d run his knife through Ethan like it was nothing.

“What have you done with Lex?” Ethan demanded, looking wildly around him. Now that he had their attention, he might as well use it. “Tell me where she is!” 

The man with the baseball cap stepped forward and Ethan met his eyes evenly. He could not show fear. Not now. 

There was a brief staring contest between them, then, out of nowhere, the man who’d stabbed him swung out his hand and struck Ethan across the face. Ethan stumbled backward, more out of surprise than pain, though the man could hit, Ethan would give him that. 

“Leave him alone!” Hannah screamed. 

“You’ll speak when you’re spoken to!” Baseball Cap bellowed at Ethan. 

Above them, Linda waved her hand impatiently. 

“Enough, enough. Leave him here,” she said, looking between Hannah, who had run to Ethan’s side when he had been hit, and Ethan, who, despite the circumstances, had to fight the urge to laugh. She looked kind of ridiculous, standing on the steps of a rundown Toy Store like it was the fucking Oscars or something. But there wasn’t anything funny about the hunger in her eyes. “He could be useful.” 

Reluctantly, Baseball Hat backed off. 

“Now,” Linda gave him one of those half-grimace smile things that rich people gave when they had to be polite to people they didn’t like. “As for where your little trailer-trash whore is, I’ll let you wonder about that. And what I might do to you and the little brat here if you don’t behave.” 

“Now, as for you, you little shit.” Linda Monroe wheeled on Hannah, who shrank back. “You’ve kept the shepherd from his flock for too long.”

Ethan moved protectively in front of Hannah. He silently thanked Webby for giving him the strength to stand. 

At a wave of Linda’s hand, two of the cultists marched forward and grabbed Ethan by the arms, pulling him roughly to the edge of the circle as he struggled, but healing though he may have been, Ethan wasn’t at full strength yet. 

“Quit it,” one of the men holding him said, jerking his arm roughly. A flair of pain went through it. That shouldn’t have hurt. 

Webby was losing energy. Ethan could feel it. So he stopped fighting, bided his time. If he was going to make some spectacular move to incapacitate Linda and get them out of this, the timing had to be perfect. 

Hannah started crying, and it made Ethan’s attention snap right back to her. 

“Nuh-uh,” Hannah sobbed, as Linda loomed over her. “Magic hat, nothing can hurt me.” 

Linda scoffed and ripped the hat off of her head. “Magic hat,” she muttered with a laugh, handing it to one of her cronies, a woman with a long skirt and a sweater with a picture of a cat emblazoned on it. 

That was his hat. They couldn’t do that. They also were not allowed to  _ touch  _ Hannah. 

“You little fool,” Linda taunted. “You think a  _ magic hat  _ is going to protect you?” She walked behind Hannah. “That’s ridiculous, only dolls are magic.”

Ethan wanted to shout that magic dolls made about as much sense as magic hats, but Webby reminded him of his goal. He had to wait. Not draw attention to himself. For both his own sake, and Hannah’s. 

Linda Monroe ripped the backpack off of Hannah’s shoulders. She didn’t protest. 

“I’ll be taking  _ mine,  _ thank you very much,” Linda said gleefully as she ripped open the backpack, triumphantly pulling out… nothing. She gasped in total outrage, her face contorting into something like pain. 

Ethan quietly snickered. She was so outraged over a doll it was almost hilarious. 

He stopped laughing when Linda pulled a switchblade out of her expensive-looking purse. 

“Is this some kind of a joke?” Linda Monroe wheeled on Hannah, who stared back defiantly. “Tell me where he is, or I will open your mouth with my fucking kni-AAAGGGH.” 

That last part was courtesy of Ethan’s fist connecting with her nose. He knew it was dumb, a terrible decision, probably the worst decision he’d ever made, and that was saying a lot. But when Linda had pulled the knife on Hannah, he’d snapped. Webby was lending him this strength to protect Hannah, and so protect Hannah he would. No matter what.  _ No one  _ threatened his little sister like that.

It was probably the best punch Ethan had thrown in his life, and it felt kind of awesome. But Ethan didn't pause to enjoy his moment.

His body thought for him. He surged forward and grabbed Hannah’s hand, pulling her to her feet and began to make a break for it. The cult was so surprised at his recklessness that they didn’t react at first. Out of the corner of his eye, Ethan saw the crazy cat lady holding the baseball cap. He ripped it out of her hands as they passed, the woman still too shocked to react. 

Ethan felt ecstatic, he felt unstoppable. It was the best he’d felt all day. All fucking  _ week.  _ He and Hannah were going to make it out of here. Linda wouldn’t get her doll. They’d be on the road to California right after Ethan and Hannah found Lex, who was  _ alive,  _ thank you very much. Hannah looked up at him and smiled as they ran, and time seemed to slow down as they enjoyed their escape. 

They didn’t make it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry...
> 
> Jk no im not
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed, despite the fact that I am the worst, and as always, comments and kudos are appreciated (seriously tho I always have so much fun reading the comments it makes me feel good) 
> 
> Anyway, come vibe w me on Tumblr: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	8. Chapter 8 - Ethan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The escape fails, Ethan can't stop running his mouth in the face of danger, and Hannah is offered a heartbreaking choice.

They were ten feet from the door when the knife cut Ethan’s leg. Someone had thrown it from the mob now chasing them. It didn’t stick, thank god, but it grazed Ethan’s thigh and his leg flared with pain. Ethan stumbled, only for a moment and Hannah glanced at him with concern. 

But a moment was all they needed. 

The group surrounded them immediately, cutting off any chance of escape. Thinking quickly, Ethan squeezed Hannah’s hand and she looked at him, eyes bright with terror. He slipped the magic hat, commandeered from the Crazy Cat Lady and she gave him a grateful smile as the cultists closed in. 

_ Everything will be okay,  _ she whispered in his head _. Everything will be okay.  _

Twenty pairs of hands clutched at Ethan and Hannah, pulling them apart and dragging them roughly back to the staircase and Linda Monroe, who still howled with pain from where Ethan had punched her. 

Three of the cultists held on to Hannah so she couldn’t help him, and they threw Ethan to the floor, and his head slammed against the tile. He muffled his cry of pain as the impact agitated Ethan’s ever-growing number of injuries. 

From his position, Ethan could vaguely see checkered hat-man go to pick up the knife where it had fallen. Apparently he had it in for Ethan today. He saw Ethan watching and gave him a cold smile. 

With their prisoners secured, the cultists looked to Linda for direction. 

“Wiggly tells me we need them alive!” She announced, wiping at the blood that was currently streaming from her nose. She gestured to Checkered Hat Man and someone Ethan recognized as Gary Goldstein, Hatchetfield’s best, and only, lawyer. 

“But, make sure the boy.” Linda nudged Ethan with her foot just to make sure that her followers knew who she was talking about. “Doesn’t try  _ anything  _ like that again.” 

Checkered Hat Man knelt over Ethan, ignoring the sound of Hannah’s vehement protests, and took the spool of twine from Gary, who had gone to retrieve it. With a loud  _ snap  _ he cut a length of the rope with his trusty knife and used it to tie Ethan’s hands behind his back. 

That done, the man abruptly grabbed the collar of Ethan’s jacket, and yanked him upward so that Ethan was on his knees, which made his now-injured leg scream in protest. 

Linda Monroe moved towards them and crouched in front of Ethan so that they were face to face. Ethan looked anywhere but in her eyes, focusing on her nose instead. Once so perfectly straight from god knew how many nose jobs, it was now a zigzag and still gushing blood. So it was definitely broken. Ethan felt a twinge of satisfaction at that. 

All satisfaction vanished when Linda reached out, and grabbed his chin, almost gently, and forced Ethan to look her in the eye. 

Her eyes were tinged and glowing green, and whatever Ethan had found funny about her before, whatever quirks she’d had and the gait of her step that made her look like a cartoon character, were replaced by calculated malice as she gave a cold, triumphant smile. 

Ethan tried to jerk away from her, but she only held his chin tighter. 

“Listen here,” Linda said, so softly only Ethan could hear her. “Wiggly made me promise to keep you alive a little bit longer, he said that I’d need you, but I  _ promise  _ that you will pay for what you did. Painfully.” 

“I’m sure I fucking will.” Ethan put on a brave face. He was good at that, but for the first time through this whole ordeal, he was properly afraid. His hands were tied and Checkered Hat Man was standing over him. There would be no escape a second time. 

Linda reached up and wiped blood from her nose again. “You know, I wasn’t going to tell you this if you had  _ just _ given me the doll and not tried anything stupid-” 

“Oh, and then you were gonna let us go? Just like that?” 

“Well, no,” Linda said with another one of her cold smiles. “But I may have been kinder about it. Anyway, that isn’t what I was going to tell you.” 

“Then spit it out already!” Ethan snapped. He knew this wasn’t smart, but if he was going to die anyway, he was going to spend his last minutes running his mouth. “Tell me whatever the fuck it is you want me to know  _ so  _ badly.” 

“Alright, that’s it!” Linda got to her feet, exasperated at his stupidity. It reminded him so much of when Lex of Mr. Houston would get annoyed with him that Ethan felt a strange pang of nostalgia. “Will someone shut him up? I cannot stand hearing him talk anymore.” 

Ethan made a muffled noise of protest as a piece of cloth was wrapped around his mouth. Checkered Hat Man made sure to jerk Ethan’s head around as he secured it in the back. This is what he got for mouthing off. Lex was going to kill him. 

“May I continue now?” Linda asked no one in particular.

Ethan glared at her, and she made a face in return. 

“What I was going to tell you, you little shit,” Linda said, raising her voice so that Hannah could hear too now. “Is that the little heretic, Lex Foster, is dead. I ordered her killed hours ago.” She knelt back in front of Ethan, looking almost giddy at the announcement. “I almost wish she were here to see your faces.” 

There were a million things that Ethan wanted to say to her. A million profanities he wanted to throw her way. He started to pull, fight against his ropes, ready to kill Linda, or at least give her another punch in the face for being such a goddamn liar. Because Lex couldn’t be dead. She wasn’t. A sharp tug on his arm pulled him back from Linda and to his position on the floor. 

“Liar!” Hannah wailed, wiping tears away from her cheeks. But there was something about the way she said it that seemed as though she didn’t believe Linda. “Liar! Liar!” 

Linda looked so  _ smug,  _ so pleased with herself, that Ethan believed her. 

Lex was gone. 

He couldn’t save her. And now he wasn’t even able to protect Hannah, he wasn’t even able to keep his last promise to his Lex. And they were going to die, just like her, at the hands of Linda Monroe and Wiggly. 

_ Only our ashes will see California.  _

Ethan slumped. He stopped resisting his bonds and just stared at the floor. What was the point in fighting now? It was over. Their bodies would join Frank’s, forgotten on the Toy Zone floor. No one was coming for them. 

Linda could see she’d broken him with the news about Lex. She studied him for another long moment, then stood, and turned her back on him, dismissing him completely. 

“Now you.” Ethan looked up from the floor to see Linda towering over Hannah, holding yet another box cutter. They must’ve had a sale down in hell. “You’ve seen where defiance gets you. I’m only going to give you one more chance. Save your miserable life and tell me where you put that doll!” 

_ Tell her where it is,  _ Ethan thought to her desperately. He had no idea where it was. But maybe she did. Maybe they would let her go. 

“No,” Hannah said aloud, glaring at Linda. But she did glance over at Ethan, which made Linda look, too. “Don’t give up.” 

With a start, Ethan realized she was talking to him. She was being brave. She was being heroic. Ethan knew the nine-year-old had more guts than anyone could tell, but he never would have expected this from her. 

Linda raised her knife and Ethan made a muffled shout against the gag in his mouth. Hannah raised her hands to block her face then looked away.

Ethan shut his eyes. He couldn’t watch. 

Then, just as quickly, Linda lowered her knife and threw back her head, howling with laughter. 

Ethan opened his eyes, confused.  _ What is she laughing at?  _

“I’m such a fool,” Linda said, striding away from Hannah and back up the stairs to her perch on the second floor. “Of course you wouldn’t give it to me to save yourself. You’re still clutching the delusion that you can still win. But…” She made a gesture towards Checkered Hat Man, who still held Ethan’s shoulder in a death grip. “Would you tell me to save  _ him _ ?” 

At her command, Checkered Hat Man removed his trusty knife from the pocket of his jacket and flipped it open. Making sure Hannah was watching, he pressed the blade of the knife to Ethan’s throat. 

Hannah looked stricken. Her gaze went from Ethan to the knife to Linda back to the knife. 

“Now, I will ask you this one more time, now that you know the consequences,” Linda said, surveying her victory from high above them. “The doll, or he dies.”

Hannah stared down at the floor, her lower lip trembling. She wiped away tears, not looking at anyone. “ Man took it. Don’t have it.” She looked over at Ethan, who tried to look brave for her, even with the knife. "Don't hurt Ethan." 

Linda sneered down at her, hands white-knuckling the railing. Ethan would have covered his ears if he wasn’t tied up, in preparation for the storm of fury that he was sure Linda would unleash on him and Hannah. This was definitely it. 

However, when Linda did speak, it was calm and controlled. Which made it all the more terrifying. “I don’t believe you.” 

So this was it. It was over. Webby's strength was spent, Ethan could feel that. The pain she had been protecting him from was starting to creep back in, tiring him out. He couldn't pull another spectacular punch, and Hannah was surrounded. There was no getting out of this. At least he'd see Lex again. 

_ Webby, _ Ethan begged their guardian, who had gone strangely silent. _Save her. If you can't save me, at least save her._

Linda turned towards Ethan, who met her eyes one last time. If he was going to die, he was going to die facing her down. He was going to die as bravely as he possibly could. 

Linda raised her hand to give the order, time slowed down. And then there was a new sound. 

The sound of a voice. 

“HEY!” 

Ethan’s captor twisted him to face this new threat and what Ethan saw made him want to sob with joy. 

Standing there, holding Wiggly up like a trophy, white light surrounding her like she was an angel, stood Lex Foster. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ride it out with me guys, I'm gonna stop hurting them soon I promise   
> Anyway, thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated 
> 
> Tumblr come vibe with me: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	9. Chapter 9 - Lex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex and Mr. Houston try to save Ethan and Hannah, Checkered Hat Man is smarter than he lets on, and Lex and Ethan reunite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay in uploading this chapter just got real long

Lex steeled her nerves at the front entrance to Toy Zone, Wiggly clutched tightly in her fist. Lex had made sure to position her fingers to clamp around its neck. That’s what it deserved. Lex was going to choke the life out of it in more ways than one. 

Tom had left moments ago with the gun and an ‘I don’t trust you with this because you’re holding it wrong,’ to go around the back. Lex had given him brief directions through the stockroom, up the first staircase to the second floor. He was going to take down Linda on top, while Lex went after Hannah below. She just hoped she wasn’t too late. 

The assholes hadn’t shown any mercy to Frank after all. Nor to her. And definitely not to Ethan. Hannah would be no different. 

Lex was still reeling over the news about Ethan. She was desperately trying to shove it down, push it aside for her own sake. If she thought about it too much she might break. She had to focus on getting Hannah out of this mall, then she could break down and cry and scream and throw things. Now, she had to be brave. For Ethan. 

She was snapped out of her stupor when Hannah screamed, which set every single one of Lex’s nerves buzzing. It was now or never. 

Lex shoved aside her apprehension and lunged into the store with a shout that drew all attention to her. 

She wasn’t prepared for what she saw. 

She was prepared for the cultists staring at her like they wanted to eat her alive. She was prepared for the murderous look on Linda Monroe’s face, which now sported a bloody nose which made her look even more terrifying. She had even sort of mentally prepared herself for her terrified, vulnerable sister kneeling in the center of it all, trying to shield herself from the mob.

But all of her bravado scrambled in her brain with a million other feelings when she saw Ethan Green. 

Lex wanted to start crying, but what emotion it would convey she wasn’t sure. Ethan was alive. God, he was  _ alive.  _ B ut he didn’t look good. His face was covered in cut and bruises, and beneath his leather jacket, uncharacteristically unzipped, Lex could see a disturbing amount of blood on his shirt. His flannel was tied around his stomach in a makeshift bandage, and thinking about what Ethan had been trying to keep clean made Lex's stomach roll. 

Unlike Hannah, Ethan’s hands were bound behind him, and there was a gag in his mouth. The worst part was the knife. The knife that the man in the baseball hat, the one who had started the riot and set off a chain reaction, held against Ethan’s throat. 

Lex couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He was doing his best to hide it, but Lex could tell that he was in pain, and he was scared. She could tell by the tension in his shoulders and the look in his eyes. 

Part of Lex wondered if this was some kind of cruel trick. If Webby had planted this in her mind to distract her. If he was, it was working. The other part of her knew that this was real. It was really Ethan in front of her, alive, and close to death. Lex didn’t know which was worse. 

_ Stay focused, Lex,  _ she chided herself as the cult oohed and aahed over the Wiggly she was brandishing.  _ Ethan and Hannah need you.  _

“Is this what you’re lookin’ for?” She asked, trying desperately to keep her voice steady. She still had to be brave for Ethan, after all. It just wasn’t in the way she imagined.

“I haven’t changed my mind, little girl,” Linda said, apparently still holding court on the second floor of Toy Zone. “I still want you dead. I still want  _ both  _ of you dead!” 

Checked Baseball Hat dug the knife a little deeper into Ethan’s throat and he winced, which made Lex flinch involuntarily. 

Linda made an ‘awwww’ sound, which just pissed Lex off more. 

“You’re not going to fucking  _ touch  _ either one of them!” Lex yelled back. The anger she had felt in the parking lot returned in full force. Linda was still going to pay for doing this. “Not if you want the doll.”

Linda laughed at her, a full-body, hysterical belly laugh that just pissed Lex off more. “God, and I thought your sister was stupid,” she continued. “Coming into the Lion’s Den,  _ completely  _ outnumbered, with a doll that I am going to take no matter what you do?” Linda leaned over to drive her point home. “You’re a  _ fucking  _ moron!” 

“Well I guess,” came Mr. Houston’s voice, a voice Lex never thought she’d be so happy to hear in her life. “You’ve been outfoxed by a couple of fucking morons.” 

He came up behind Linda and pressed the gun against the side of her head, looking enraged, but not the Wiggly kind of enraged. It wasn’t the insane rage that Linda or her followers had. It was the kind of enraged that Superheroes looked when they were saving cities from bad guys. The kind of enraged that was going to protect Hannah and Ethan. 

“Now-” Mr. Houston stopped abruptly. The anger on his face was replaced by a concoction of shock and concern and guilt as he set eyes on Ethan. “Ethan?” 

_ Oh _ . That was who Mr. Houston had seen in the Cineplex. The mysterious third person that the cult had taken. So he probably felt kind of bad leaving one of his favorite students behind. 

Mr. Houston seemed to take a moment to regain his composure, then pointed the gun at the cultists and shouted with new ferocity. “Back off and let the kids go!” 

Most of the cultists forgot all about Hannah and Ethan when their prophet was in danger. They turned from Hannah, who scrambled to her feet and ran to Lex. 

Lex’s veins were flooded with relief like it was crack. She tugged Hannah into the shadows behind a shelf and kissed her sister about fifteen times on the top of her head, asking if Hannah was okay, and whispering how sorry she was. But Hannah wasn’t focused on any of that. 

“Ethan,” she whimpered. 

Lex looked over and all fifty emotions she’d been feeling came rushing back. One of the cultists hadn’t moved, hadn’t agreed to Mr. Houston’s demands to release Ethan and Hannah. The man with the checkered baseball hat still held on to Ethan and hadn’t removed the knife at his neck. 

“Maybe you didn’t hear me.” Mr. Houston’s eyes, like Lex’s and Hannah’s, were fixed on Ethan. “I said let the kid go.” 

“Release the prophet,” Checkered Hat Man said evenly and without hesitation. “Then maybe I’ll ‘let the kid go.’” 

Mr. Houston and Ethan locked eyes. Some sort of exchange passed between them and Mr. Houston seemed to be making some sort of calculation. Lex realized that Mr. Houston was trying to figure out how to shoot Checkered Hat Man without losing his grip on Linda. 

“Help him, Lexie,” Hannah whispered, near tears. “Plan won’t work. Plan won’t work.” 

Lex made a choice. She looked at Wiggly, still clutched in her hand and marched into the center of the cult. Ethan made another muffled sound against the gag, looking at her like she’d absolutely lost it. And she probably had, but she had a plan. 

Actually, calling it a plan was generous. It was more like a vague idea to force Checkered Hat Man to let Ethan go, maybe. 

“Hey, assholes!” Lex pulled a cigarette lighter out of her pocket. “If Wiggly really is your god, then let him stop me from doing  _ this _ !” 

She held the lighter up under Wiggly and all of the cultists lost their fucking minds. Again, all of their focus was on the doll. They barely seemed to even see  _ Lex _ . All of their focus was on what might happen to their so-called-God, which was good. There was something to this plan, after all. 

When Checkered Hat Man made no move to release Ethan, and met Lex’s eyes with a challenge. Lex realized something. Her own plan had the same flawed logic as Mr. Houston’s. She and Mr. Houston both assumed that Checkered Hat Man would abandon Ethan in the hope of saving first Linda, then Wiggly. But, unfortunately, as insane, psychopathic and murderous as this guy was, he apparently wasn’t as stupid as the rest of his cult. 

He had made a calculation of his own and it went something like this. As long as Checkered Hat Man held Ethan, he had leverage. Lex and Mr. Houston would not carry out their plans if it meant endangering Ethan. So he would not be letting Ethan go. 

Lex flicked her eyes away from Ethan for a split second, up to meet Mr. Houston’s, who apparently had had the same realization. Mr. Houston was getting desperate now. Lex could see it. Mr. Houston cared about Ethan even more than he had let on at school or in the parking lot earlier. 

The cult took advantage of Lex’s distraction, and she felt Wiggly being ripped from her hands and someone shoving her off balance. She tumbled down the stairs, landing hard on her side. Ouch. Slowly, Lex got to her feet, wincing. 

She looked back over at Ethan, who had started to fight weakly against Checkered Hat Man, in a desperate attempt to escape and get to Lex, which, while very cute, was not going to work, and was agitating his captor. And with the knife so close to his throat, Lex really didn’t want it to continue. 

_ Idiot.  _ Her heart was filled with so much affection that she had to remind herself that this was life or death and that her dumb boyfriend was going to get himself killed. 

She sent him a pointed glare that said.  _ I’m fine. Stop doing stupid things.  _

Ethan must have gotten the message because he quit struggling, and Checkered Hat Man regained his death grip on him. 

“How many times are you going to DO that?” Checkered Hat Man said through gritted teeth. “You really don’t learn, do you?” 

When he repositioned the knife, he, accidentally, or on purpose, nicked the front of Ethan’s neck, drawing blood. Lex saw Mr. Houston’s face turn ashen when he saw what happened and the gun in his hand went slack just a little bit. 

But that little bit was enough for Linda to seize the opportunity and knock the gun out of Mr. Houston’s hand and knock him to the ground. Mr. Houston fell out of sight of Lex, and she saw no sign of him. 

Lex was frantic now. Despite all of Ethan’s countless other injuries, seeing someone actively make him bleed set off all of her panic synapses in a completely different way. She had to get him out of this. She could not lose him. 

Her frantic swiveling back and forth had Lex set her eyes on the, miraculously still standing, bin of little girl’s flowery aluminum baseball bats. 

Time for Plan B. The direct approach. 

While Checkered Hat Man was smart, he was no less mesmerized by Wiggly than his cohorts. That meant, while he still held Ethan, he was distracted from Lex. So he didn’t see her move towards the bin and grab a bat. 

Checkered Hat Man still didn’t notice when she marched up behind him and, careful not to accidentally hit Ethan, brought it down hard on the back of his head.

He collapsed instantly, knife clattering to the floor and arm dropping from Ethan, who, without someone holding him, collapsed to the floor. Lex looked over and by some miracle, the cult was too consumed by some weird ritual involving Wiggly to notice what Lex had just done. 

Lex didn’t waste a second. She grabbed the knife off the floor and used it to cut Ethan’s bonds, then hooked her elbows under his arms and dragged him, as gently as she could, out of harm’s way, and into the shadows with Hannah. 

Lex set down the knife beside them, then laid Ethan’s head in her lap and gently removed the gag from his mouth. 

“Lex…” Ethan said weakly as soon as he could speak, his arm trembling as he reached up to touch her. “Are you… are you real?” 

Lex ran her fingers through his dark curls with one hand, while her other hand gripped his tightly. 

“I’m real.” Hearing his voice, tired and full of pain as it was, almost broke Lex completely. “Ethan I… I thought you…I want to...” 

“I know,” Ethan said softly. That was good, because Lex sure didn’t know what she wanted to say. “Me too.” 

"Ethan?" Hannah cut in, her voice trembling. She came to kneel beside him and let her hand rest on his arm. 

"Hey, Banana," Ethan managed one of his heart-melting smiles. "You were so brave right there. Told you there was SuperHannah in ya."

"You were brave," Hannah replied fiercely. "Punching Linda. Even though they hurt you." 

"You punched Linda?" Lex asked incredulously. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to kiss him or slap him for doing something so insane. No wonder they had tied him up. "Ethan, you dumbass. They could have killed you for that." 

"Had to," Ethan replied matter-of-factly. "Linda had a knife... She was threatening Hannah." 

"Ethan..." Lex leaned down and softly pressed her forehead to his. "You're my fucking hero." 

"Hey, you're pretty heroic yourself," Ethan murmured back. "You rescued me. Hitting Checkered Hat Man with a baseball bat. Kinda incredible." 

Lex laughed, in spite of herself, and pressed her lips to Ethan's forehead. 

_ Now would be a really awesome time to tell him that thing you want to tell him,  _ The very annoying and correct side of Lex’s brain said. But the logical side told her she couldn’t. Not now, when they were still very much in the Lion’s Den and in danger. But at this moment, Lex’s world was narrow. It was just her, and Ethan and Hannah in the tiny dark corner of Toy Zone. 

Before Lex could decide, she heard Linda tell her followers that Wiggly said to kill them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thanks for waiting for this thing
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated 
> 
> Heres my Tumblr come be my friend: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	10. Chapter 10 - Lex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ethan returns a favor, Mr. Houston and Becky Barnes save the day, and Mr. Houston's car hasn't been towed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long boy

All of the cultists turned as one to stare at them, and Lex was out of ideas. Hannah was frozen, staring at the twenty people that now had their eyes trained on them. Ethan was hurt, barely able to move from his position in Lex’s arms. 

_ Plan. She had to come up with some kind of plan.  _ She had come up with plans a lot today, and they had worked. She had gotten out of Toy Zone, woken up Mr. Houston, and saved Ethan. She could think of something. She had to. 

The cultists took their time. They knew. They knew that the trio really couldn’t go anywhere. Most of them strolled at a leisurely pace towards Lex, Ethan and Hannah, as if they were enjoying their pleasant stroll that would end in murder. Linda didn’t move from her position in the ritual circle, still clutching Wiggly. She looked more than happy to sit back, relax, and let her followers do the hard work while she enjoyed the entertainment. 

“Lex,” Ethan gasped out. “You have to go-” He coughed. “Take Hannah-”

“Shut the fuck up, Ethan Green,” Lex snapped back, appalled that he would even  _ consider  _ such a terrible, awful, unthinkable idea. “Because if you think there is any way in  _ hell  _ I am losing you again, you really are a fucking dumbass.”

“Right,” Hannah agreed, nodding firmly and grabbing Ethan’s hand. “Not leaving.” 

Despite it all, Ethan managed a smile. “Lex, I -” Then his eyes widened with surprise and fear and he cried a warning. “Behind you!” 

But Ethan was a split second too late. Lex began to whirl around just as, for the second time that day, an arm was locked harshly around her throat and crushed her windpipe. 

Hannah screamed. 

Lex gagged, a wave of dread coming over her. This was painfully familiar. She thought she was done being choked.

_ No. No no no. Please, God. Not this way. _

She had been so triumphant when she had saved Ethan. She had thought that maybe, maybe, this was coming to a close, that somehow the cult would let them leave. She should never have been so optimistic. 

“I guess Sherman was too weak to do what had to be done,” her attacker’s voice hissed in her ear. “But I’m gonna finish the job. And, as a bonus, loverboy and your kid sister get to watch.” 

Lex didn’t need to look to know who the voice belonged to. It was a voice that, just minutes ago, was threatening Ethan. Now, it seemed Checkered Hat Man had moved on to a new target. 

“Let her go!” Ethan demanded, though it didn’t sound very authoritative with his labored breathing. 

Checkered Hat Man just laughed and tightened his grip on Lex’s, and, once again, Lex felt the edges of her vision begin to go dark. There was no General McNamara to save her this time, no  _ deus ex machina  _ involving a gun and reaching into other dimensions. 

_ We were so, so close.  _

Lex vaguely felt Ethan shift, his warm head leaving her lap. Lex was stuck staring straight ahead, so she couldn’t see what had happened to him. It was a comfort, having him there in her final moments. 

“E-Ethan?” She managed to choke out. 

That’s when the knife, that Lex had completely forgotten about, whooshed past her head, missing it by about two inches, and stuck right into Checkered Hat Man’s exposed throat. 

The cultists, who had been holding off, watching Checkered Hat Man have his fun, froze in shock. 

He gagged as he died choking on his own blood. Lex pushed him off of her and scrambled away. 

She looked around for Ethan and saw that he was, somehow, sitting up, gritting his teeth in pain. He was leaning heavily on Hannah and his arm was suspended outward, as if he had just thrown a ball. Or a knife.

Lex realized that Ethan, in an act that must have taken whatever strength he had left and then some, had thrown the knife and hit his target. He had saved Lex’s life. 

Lex’s suspicions were confirmed when Ethan slumped back into Lex’s arms, his breathing growing more and more ragged. 

“Lex-” he gasped. He seemed to be trying to form more words, but none were crossing his lips. 

“No!” Lex murmured through gritted teeth. He was not dying. “No, no, no, no, no.” 

“The hat.” Hannah ripped it off her head and pressed it insistently into Lex’s hand. “The hat.” 

Lex looked at it, and recognized it as the hat Ethan had given Hannah that morning. The so-called magic hat imbued with the power of Greyskull. Lex pushed aside the warmth that rose inside her at the memory, thoughts of  _ god he’s such a fucking nerd.  _ Feelings were ridiculously complicated, and Lex had more important things to focus on, like keeping Ethan alive and getting him out of here. 

With everything else that Lex had experienced today, Ethan possessing a magic hat really didn’t seem that weird. It was worth a shot

Lex gingerly lifted Ethan’s head up and slipped the hat on. To her surprise, his breathing began to even out, becoming a little less labored. He still seemed to be in pain, but somehow this hat was holding off death. 

Where had he gotten this thing, and where could Lex invest in about fifty? 

“Hat’s magic,” Hannah put in helpfully. “Lets Webby help. Protect me and you and Ethan. Lexie lights it up.” 

“What?” 

Before Lex could really unpack all of that, one of the cultists, Gary Goldstein to be more specific, unfroze from his shock and lunged at them. His friends followed suit. Lex set Ethan down and picked up her new baseball bat, though there was no way in hell, even with Webby, who was apparently helping them, that Lex would be able to fight all of these people off. 

Thankfully, she didn’t have to. 

Just as Gary reached them, a figure loomed over him, out of the shadows, and grabbed the tie that Gary had wrapped around his head. The figure was tall and imposing, and yanked Gary’s head back so hard that Lex was surprised that Gary’s neck didn’t snap. She saw something fall out of Gary’s pocket next to Ethan, who reached out and clutched it between his fingers. 

“Get lost,” Mr. Houston growled. 

Gary let out a pig-worthy squeal and scampered back to Linda, which would have been hilarious if Lex wasn’t so terrified. Mr. Houston grabbed Lex’s baseball bat from her hand, and raised it to the other cultists as a warning. The look on his face made Lex very thankful that he was on her side. 

The remainder of the cult did the smart thing and turned on their tails and ran back to their leader. They huddled in a circle, as if they were planning their next move. Mr. Houston completely ignored them. 

“Go, Mr. Houston,” Lex said, genuinely impressed. “Also, are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good,” Mr. Houston said dismissively. He dropped down on his knees next to Ethan, and took in his injuries. 

“Hey, kid,” Mr. Houston said softly. He looked like he was about to cry with relief. “Glad you’re somewhat safe.” 

“Hey, Mr. Houston.” Ethan didn’t even protest at Mr. Houston calling him ‘kid,’ which made Lex worry even more. Even with Hannah’s hat on his head, Ethan’s blinks were getting slower. Mr. Houston must have noticed, too, because he shook Ethan’s shoulder. 

“Woah, woah, stay with me. You’ve probably got a concussion.” He sounded so much like a concerned dad that Lex felt a pang of wistfulness. “I know it’s hard, but you’ve gotta stay awake, kid. Just for a little while longer.” Mr. Houston kept talking, almost rambling. Lex knew that he just wanted to keep Ethan awake, because being awake meant being alive. “Was that you, at the McDonald’s?” 

“Mhm,” Ethan replied. He looked like he was trying not to blink and it made Lex’s eyes hurt. 

“Shit.” Mr. Houston looked even guiltier than he had earlier. Lex would have to get the details on what the fuck had happened at McDonald’s. “Then this is probably my fault, huh.” 

“No,” Ethan said with as much force as he could muster. “It’s Wiggly’s. Fucking doll. We should…” 

Then Ethan’s eyes rolled backward in his head and he passed out, full stop. 

“Ethan? Hey, kid, wake up.” Mr. Houston shook Ethan’s shoulder, but he didn’t stir. “Ethan?” 

“It’s okay,” Hannah said, but she sounded sort of uncertain. “Webby says the hat will keep him safe.” 

Mr. Houston gave her a strange look, then turned his attention back to Ethan. 

Lex was looking back and forth between Ethan and the football huddle by the stairs. Linda seemed to have reached some kind of conclusion. She looked somewhere between irritated, and furious. 

“My God,” she growled. “Do I have to do  _ everything  _ myself?” 

She shoved past her cultists, still clutching Wiggly under one arm, and took the knife back out of her purse, taking aim straight towards Mr. Houston, who had his back to her, all of his focus still on trying to wake Ethan. 

Lex was about to cry a warning, but a new challenger appeared on the second floor of Toy Zone, making her entrance in the same style as Lex. 

“HEY!” 

A petite woman wearing nursing scrubs, which was an ironic juxtaposition to the gun she had pointed directly at Linda’s head, stood on the second floor of Toy Zone. Lex guessed this must be Becky, who was rapidly scoring points in Lex’s book. 

Linda lowered her arm and looked up at Becky if only to gloat about her apparent victory. 

Linda laughed one of her victory laughs that didn’t sound happy. “Becky Barnes, you pathetic worm. You think you can stop the birth of a  _ God?  _ You couldn’t even stand up to your disgusting husband.” 

Becky winced, but kept standing firm, gun trained on Linda. 

“Look at you,” Linda preened. “You’re paralyzed with fear.”

Lex realized something just then. Linda’s weakness. In all of the instances where she could have killed. Brought the knife down or shot a bullet or simply had her followers tear Lex and her friends to pieces, she didn’t. She waited and savored her victory. Linda wanted her victims to feel as lowly and pathetic as she thought they were. She wanted them to fear her before they died, and that allowed for the worst thing you could give an enemy. Time. 

And time is what Becky Barnes had. 

“No!” Becky said through gritted teeth. “I’m just lining up my shot.” 

Unlike Linda, Becky didn’t wait. She didn’t give her enemy time. A shot rang out, Linda stumbled back, going cross-eyed to look at the bullet hole in her forehead, then fell back and didn’t move again. 

The other cultists surged forward, and Lex thought for sure that was it for Becky Barnes, which was bad, because Becky had the knowledge of medical care that Ethan desperately needed right about now. 

They ignored Becky in favor of, if it was Gary, calling Linda’s husband Gerald to talk about the will, or if it was everyone else, mourning the loss of their prophet/goddess.

Becky practically vaulted her way down the stairs while still holding the gun, which impressed Lex further. She was going to have to get Becky to teach her some moves if they ever got the chance. 

“Is everyone alright?” Becky asked. Her Snow-White-esque voice matched her mousy figure and doey brown eyes quite well. “Tom, girls… Oh my god!” 

She laid eyes on Ethan, and dropped down next to Tom, her nursing instincts seeming to take over. She pressed her fingers to Ethan’s wrist and felt for a pulse. Lex knew that, apparently, Webby was keeping Ethan alive until he could get some actual medical help, but seeing the relief on Becky’s face as she felt Ethan’s heartbeat helped ease Lex’s mind a bit. 

“Normally, I’d want to stabilize him before we move him, but I think that this is a special circumstance. We need to get out of here. Fast.” 

Mr. Houston nodded in agreement and draped one of Ethan’s arms over his shoulders. “Lex, I’m gonna need your help to carry Ethan.” 

“One second.” Lex had fixed her eyes on the Wiggly doll, and the sight of it made her insides heat up with fury. That doll was the reason for all of this. That doll had gotten Ethan hurt, had corrupted Mr. Houston, that fucking doll was the reason that Ethan, Hannah, and Becky had been kidnapped and Lex had been strangled twice in three hours. She wanted to rip it to shreds. She wanted to burn it. The Hatchetfield Mall could use a renovation, anyhow. 

_ What had Hannah said earlier?  _

“Lexie lights it up,” Her sister supplied. She looked as though she felt the same way about Wiggly as Lex did. 

“Lexie lights it up, huh?” Lex said. She didn’t know why her voice had taken on such an edge when she spoke, but damn did the fire inside her feel good. “Let’s make that come true.” 

Lex marched up to Linda’s dead body and ripped the doll from her hands. The cultists all shrieked when she did it. 

Once again, Lex took the lighter out of her pocket. She hadn’t thought about it before, but it was a lighter she had stolen from Ethan the first time they’d smoked together. That was fitting. 

Like she had a few minutes earlier in an attempt to save Ethan, Lex sparked the lighter beneath Wiggly’s feet, but she didn’t hesitate this time. 

“Either abandon your God,” Lex told the assembled cultists through gritted teeth. “Or you can burn here with him.” 

She set Wiggly alight and hurled him into a far corner of Toy Zone, where it landed with a thud and set the cardboard box next to it on fire. 

Lex didn’t stick around to see how much damage it caused. She ran back to the little group of good people who were left, and wrapped Ethan’s other arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.” 

Between Lex and Mr. Houston, they were able to carry Ethan through the stockroom, Becky going first with the gun in case they met any adversary, and Hannah shadowing Lex and Mr. Houston. 

Becky shot the lock off the stockroom door, another move that pleasantly surprised Lex, the woman was a bona-fide badass, and they stumbled out into the loading lot, gasping for air. 

“Mr. Houston,” Lex said. “Is your jalop-fuck  _ car  _ gonna fit all of us?” 

“Jalopy?” Mr. Houston asked with amusement. “Since when does  _ anyone  _ use that word?” 

“Ethan talks like a 1930s news reporter.” Lex would  _ never  _ admit it to Ethan that she found it cute. Ever. “But that is  _ not  _ the point.  _ Is your car going to fit us?  _ Ethan’s car is parked close by, we could probably make it. _ ”  _

“We’ll fit,” Mr. Houston replied. “I’m not letting you kids go off on your own, Lex, not now.” 

Lex didn’t have the energy to snap that she was  _ not  _ a kid. And to be honest, she was grateful to have Mr. Houston looking out for them. 

By the grace of incredibly lax mall parking supervision, Mr. Houston’s car had only been ticketed, not towed. With Becky’s help, they managed to cram Ethan, Lex, and Hannah into the backseat of Mr. Houston’s Lexus. Ethan’s unconscious body lay across Lex’s lap, his head resting in Hannah’s, which comforted them both. 

Mr. Houston took the ticket off the windshield and threw it on the ground before getting into the driver’s seat. 

“That’s illegal,” Lex said, to remind him that just because he’d saved their lives and was now risking his to protect them, didn’t mean she wouldn’t keep sassing him. 

“Can it, Lex.” Mr. Houston pressed the gas and peeled out of the loading lot, almost running head-on into another car the second they got onto the street. Both cars skidded to a halt, missing one another by maybe six inches. 

“What the fuck?” Lex and Mr. Houston said at the same time. 

“Tom!” Came a woman’s voice from the other car. “Tom, is that you?” 

“Emma!” Mr. Houston put the car in park and got out to go talk to whoever-it-was that had come to rescue him from the horrors of Black Friday. 

“Holy shit,” Becky murmured, wide-eyed as she stared at something behind them. “It’s all coming down.” 

Lex turned as much as she was able to look out the back windshield. Becky wasn’t exaggerating. As Lex watched, the entire roof of the Hatchetfield Mall caved in, with a mighty crash that made them all wince, and flames spewed from the explosion, rocketing sky-high like a beacon signaling that maybe this was finally over. 

All Lex had to say was, “Good.” 

Mr. Houston and his friends had moved over to his car to talk loudly at each other, so Lex tuned back into their conversation, wishing Mr. Houston would hurry it the fuck up already. Ethan needed help. 

There were two people, a man and a woman, who looked about thirty-something. Lex really didn’t focus on their appearances that much because they were delivering some very, very bad news. 

“Somebody nuked Moscow!” The man was exclaiming. “The news was saying it might be World War Three! Until the news went out.” 

Lex listened to their conversation, not making herself known because this seemed important, until Mr. Houston started talking about having a family discussion about Jane, his wife who had died, which, while important, Lex felt could definitely wait until Ethan and Hannah and also everyone else was safe. 

“Mr. Houston,” Lex cut in. “I get that this is probably a big family thing for you, but I also have a big family thing, as in, Ethan needs medical attention, like, now. So can we  _ please  _ get out of here and get him some help?” 

The woman looked at Lex like she’d dropped from another planet, but before she could say anything, Mr. Houston responded. 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” Mr. Houston turned away from his companions and took another long look at Ethan. “We gotta go.” 

“Go where?” Becky asked from the shotgun seat. “Is anyplace really safe anymore?” 

“You know…” The woman seemed lost in thought. “I have this kooky, reclusive biology professor. He lives on the edge of town, his whole house is like a panic room. We could go there?” 

Why the hell did that description sound familiar to Lex? She knew about this guy, but didn’t have the faintest idea from where. But that sounded like as good a place as any. In fact, a panic room sounded great, because as focused as Lex was right now, she was gonna flip as soon as they were even remotely safe.

“Sounds great,” Mr. Houston said hastily, already climbing back into the car. “Take Tim in your car, we’ll follow you guys there.” 

The pair nodded and ran back to their car, a beat-up Honda Civic that looked like it was straight out of the stone age. Ethan would have loved it. 

Mr. Houston restarted the engine and turned back to look at Lex. “We’re gonna take care of him, alright, Lex. I promise.” 

Lex nodded, and Hannah squeezed her sister’s hand as Mr. Houston began to follow the Honda away from the mall and towards the kooky, reclusive biology professor’s panic room. 

Nobody saw what was falling, silent and deadly, a mile above their heads except for Hannah Foster. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long time between me uploading but these are getting quite long
> 
> Also, I'm sorry about the cliffhanger, except not really 
> 
> Anyway thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are, as always, appreciated! 
> 
> Tumblr: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	11. Chapter 11 - Hannah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nuclear bomb falls towards our heroes, Hannah Foster makes a sacrifice, and Jane Perkins sends one last message

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Webby says Lexthan and Hannah get to California RIGHTS!!!

Mr. Houston’s car was driving fast towards the safe house. He wasn’t going to be fast enough getting there.  _ No one  _ would be fast enough. Not here. Not now. 

“Do you all see what I see?” Hannah broke a deathly silence that had come over the car on their drive. All around them was destruction, fire, overturned cars and smoking bodies that made Hannah want to squeeze her eyes shut tight and never open them again. But she kept her eyes open, her gaze fixed on the comet dropping toward them. 

Lex was running her hands up and down Ethan’s still arm. He wasn’t moving still, which was scary. But he was breathing okay and he had the hat, which helped Hannah feel a little bit better. 

At Hannah’s question, Lex followed Hannah’s eyes upward. They fixed on the bright white light falling toward them. A long way off still, but getting ever closer. 

“What the fuck is that?” Lex asked, trying to mask the fear in her voice. Hannah heard it, though. She knew her big sister too well. 

“Tomorrow won’t come,” Hannah replied. Webby was saying that in her head over and over again. Then she thought about the implications of it. “No. No. Tomorrow won’t come. Will tomorrow come?”

Mr. Houston and Ms. Barnes were looking out the window, too, now, Mr. Houston was still trying to drive, glancing back and forth between the road and the monstrosity in the sky.

“What is that?” Becky asked, her voice soft and scared. 

“I don’t know,” Lex said, not placing colorful adjectives in between her words for once. The hand that rested on the sleeve of Ethan’s leather jacket curled around his arm, holding him tight. 

“I do.” Mr. Houston’s voice was steady, but creeping in was something like dread. “In Afghanistan, whenever that comet-looking thing dropped on our heads, we had to take cover. Because it was a fucking bomb.” 

“Shit,” Lex said. That kinda summed it up. 

“It’s going to hit us, isn’t it?” Becky asked in a small voice. “It’s right over our heads.” 

“No!” Hannah said, violently shaking. They couldn’t die. Not now. They had fought the Lady in the Black Cape and Wiggly, and they had won. California was so close. “Not now. Webby, help us!” 

_ Hannah,  _ Webby said in her brain, her voice quiet.  _ If I do this, you understand what it means. I likely won’t be able to talk with you again.  _

Hannah glanced down at Ethan, his head was cradled in Hannah’s arms. She hadn‘t lain him down, preferring to hold him close, where she could hear him breathing, ever since they’d gotten into the car. 

_ If you save us, what happens to Ethan?  _ Hannah wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.  _ Will he…  _

_ That would remain to be seen, Hannah,  _ Webby replied.  _ The hat, which has my power already, would sustain him a bit longer, and at the rate your new friend is driving, it would be enough to reach your safe place, where Ethan could heal. Trust in his strength, and trust in your loved ones. The choice is yours to make.  _

Hannah nodded with the same determination she felt when she was SuperHannah back in the mall. There was no choice. “Save us, Webby.” 

_ Enjoy California, Hannah,  _ Webby said, her voice growing faint.  _ I’ll be watching over you. All of you.  _

The world went white as Hannah felt Webby extend her power around them. It was warmth and safety. Hannah didn’t feel fear anymore. 

She heard voices, too, soft ones, like Webby’s. Coming from far away. 

She heard General McNamara, the man who had saved Lex, shouting orders and moving the ‘troops’ into position to stop the bomb. She heard Frank, Lex’s boss, too. A little unexpected, but welcome nonetheless. 

Hannah also heard other voices, less clear, but still, ones that were benevolent, wanted to help. 

There was one more clear voice, so faint, that Hannah almost couldn’t make it out. But it was speaking directly to her. 

“ _ Tell Tom to keep going, won’t you?”  _ The woman’s voice said.  _ “And Tim that his mother says hello. And Emma that Jane said to keep both hands at two and ten.”  _

And then there was a deafening, almost beautiful silence as the bomb exploded above them, a hundred feet above their heads. 

When the world came into focus again, they were all alive. All unharmed, save for, of course, Ethan. But he was alive, which was what counted. 

_ Trust.  _ Hannah repeated to herself. She couldn’t feel Webby anymore, the constant, comforting presence that resided within her was gone. But she had to trust. That they were going to make it, that Ethan would survive. That Webby would always be watching over them. 

“What just happened?” Lex asked in disbelief, tears welling up in her eyes. “I was all set to fucking explode and now…” 

Hannah shifted Ethan’s head so she could hold it with one arm, and used her free hand to reach out and take her sister’s as Mr. Houston blinked twice, then floored the gas. 

“Webby saved us,” Hannah said, looking over at Lex. “Tomorrow  _ will  _ come.” 

The clock on the dashboard read 12:00 on the dot. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos always appreciated! 
> 
> Tumblr for Content: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	12. Chapter 12 - Lex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes arrive at the panic room of one Professor Hidgens, who has a surprising connection to Ethan, and Lex Foster cries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this was difficult to write for some reason

Lex held her breath as Mr. Houston drove up to the military-style complex situation that constituted the ‘panic room’ that belonged to the kooky, reclusive biology professor that, supposedly, would allow them to stay there. 

Ethan’s condition had gone from bad to worse the second the bomb had gone off. He had a pulse, thank God. Lex had kept her fingers firmly on the inside of his wrist so she could constantly reassure herself that Ethan’s heart was still beating. But his breathing had gone back to the ragged, labored state it had been in after he’d thrown the knife and saved Lex from Checkered Hat Man. She still needed to thank him for that. 

Hannah told them, as they were driving, that Webby had given up her connection to ‘our world’ to save the town from destruction via nuclear fucking bomb. Lex didn’t have the capacity to process just then that her life had almost ended just like that. Flash, Bang, Nothing. 

But Hannah and Webby had saved them all, and Lex didn’t know how she felt about that. Because though they’d been saved, and not that Lex was ungrateful to Webby for saving all of their lives, but if it was at Ethan’s expense... If he didn’t make it... Well, if they had all died, at least they would have died together.    


Mr. Houston stopped the car and quickly opened the door. He climbed out and pulled open the back door on Hannah’s side so that he could check on Ethan. 

“Shit,” he said softly, looking down at Ethan’s face. “He looks even paler than he did when we first got in the car.” 

“I know,” Lex replied, just as softly. She had watched Ethan’s face grow paler as they drove. She’d tried not to think about it. There was nothing they could do until they got inside that apocalypse bunker. 

“Tom,” Becky said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Ethan is going to be fine. Let’s get him inside so I can treat him.” 

“Yeah.” Tom reached over Hannah to grab Ethan beneath his arms and pull him out of the backseat. For a moment, both Lex and Hannah’s grip involuntarily tightened on Ethan. Now that the Foster sisters had their Ethan back, it seemed they were reluctant to let him go again. 

Lex quickly loosened her hold on Ethan so Mr. Houston could pull him out. Hannah hesitated for a moment, then passed Ethan’s head out the door so Mr. Houston could hold onto him easier. Mr. Houston pulled Ethan out of the car with a grunt, carrying him as best he could alone. 

Hannah crawled out of the car after Ethan and stood next to him, her hand hovering over his limp arm, not touching it. Lex quickly joined her and resumed her prior position, taking Ethan’s other arm and slinging it over her shoulders. 

The building loomed over them. The lady hadn’t been kidding, the place really did look like a bunker. It was at least two stories tall, made entirely of metal plates drilled together with giant, imposing screws. In short, it looked like it could survive pretty much anything. 

Mr. Houston’s friends and kid stood waiting for them by the door. Little Tim looked so relieved to see his father alive that it warmed Lex’s heart. 

“Dad!” Tim exclaimed as they reached the other group. He threw his arms around his father and Mr. Houston smiled down at him. He didn’t relinquish his hold on Ethan, though, which Lex was grateful for. 

“Lex, Hannah, Becky,” Mr. Houston said, indicating their companions. “This is Jane’s sister Emma and her friend Phil.” 

“It’s- you know what, never mind,” said Phil, looking at Ethan while his companion pounded on the door of the apocalypse bunker. “He’s hurt really bad.”

Yeah, no shit. 

A noise from the other side of the door made them all turn in the direction of the bunker. A voice came from the other side of the door, deep and suspicious. “Who is it!?” 

“Professor Hidgens!” Emma yelled through the door. “Please, let us in!” 

“Don’t lie to me whoever you are!” the voice shouted back, which made Lex roll her eyes. What had Emma said? Kooky and reclusive. That sounded about right. “ _ I’m  _ Professor Hidgens!” 

“No, no,” Emma said back, not giving up hope. “It’s me! Emma Perkins! Your biology student! Please, everyone’s gone crazy! Let us in!” 

There was a moment of silence in which Professor Hidgens unlocked the apparently ridiculous amount of locks he had on his front door, slapstick comedy style. Lex would’ve found it funny if she couldn’t hear Ethan’s ragged breathing directly next to her ear. If the clock wasn’t ticking for him.  _ God,  _ how long could this possibly take? 

After what seemed like a million years and twice that many locks, Professor Hidgens cracked the door open to look at the array of people who had shown up on his doorstep.

“Emma, this is a lot of fucking people you’ve brought-” Professor Hidgens stopped talking as he set eyes on Ethan, beaten and unconscious in Lex and Mr. Houston’s arms. “Ethan?” 

_ Oh.  _ Lex remembered where she’d heard that description from, now. She had heard it from Ethan, when she had asked about his family for the first time. He’d described an uncle who was a reclusive biology professor and never came to the family reunions. But Ethan liked him, and he had invited Ethan over sometimes and had always treated him well, which was more than he could say for other family members. That had been enough for Lex to think he was okay, too. 

He threw open the door and waved them through the door. “Get him inside, quick!” 

Lex and Mr. Houston went first, having to duck to get Ethan’s body through the door. As they entered, Lex stumbled on the threshold, losing her hold on Ethan for a moment. She regained it quickly, but Professor Hidgens had noticed.

“I can take him,” Professor Hidgens said. “It’ll be faster...Lex. That is you, right?” 

Lex didn’t let go of Ethan. Just like in the car, the mere thought of letting go of him, of having the reassuring weight of Ethan on her shoulders or her lap be taken away made Lex semi-panic. “How do you know me?” 

“I’ve heard about you...From Ethan. He talked about you a lot the last time he was here.” 

The mere thought of that made Lex’s cheeks flush in an embarrassing manner. Despite the gravity of the situation, the thought of Ethan excitedly telling his uncle about  _ Lex,  _ who definitely was no prize, made her smile and tear up at the same time.

_ I really kinda scored.  _

She needed to snap out of whatever emotional tornado she’d managed to get herself caught up in, though. It was too dire. She could process this later. 

“Lex?” Professor Hidgens asked gently. He wasn’t being pushy. He could probably see on Lex’s face that she could not process anything properly right now. But he was gently pushing her to focus on the situation at hand, which concerned Ethan’s survival. 

She allowed Professor Hidgens to take Ethan’s other side, and together, he and Mr. Houston carried Ethan deeper into the house, down a hallway lined with closed doors. Lex, Hannah and Becky following them, worried shadows. 

“In there,” Professor Hidgens said, nodding toward a room to their left. “I’ve got some basic medical supplies in there. However, I’m not a trained professional. Don’t suppose you have a doctor with you?” 

“I’m a nurse,” Becky piped up, raising her hand and stepping around Hannah. “I can do it.” 

Lex followed them into the med room, and watched as Ethan was laid out on what looked like a simple hospital bed, and Professor Hidgens, at Becky’s request, eased his leather jacket off of him. Mr. Houston and Professor Hidgens were as gentle as they could be, but Ethan still groaned in pain as they lay him down. The sound made Lex want to punch them both or scream or throw things or all three. 

Lex took a deep breath. No freakouts or crying yet. 

Mr. Houston and Professor Hidgens backed up to give Becky space, standing right beside Lex and watching with bated breath. 

Lex came dangerously close to crying a second time when Becky, who had been going through Hidgens’s stash of medical supplies as they’d secured him, removed Ethan’s shirt to take a look at his wounds. 

The most concerning was the gash on his stomach, which had stopped bleeding, thank the lord, but it was narrow and deep. Lex knew enough about the human body to know that deep gashes in that area meant major organs could have been punctured. 

“God.” Lex almost didn’t realize that she was whispering aloud. “What did they do to him? What the fuck did they do to him?” 

She wasn’t sure she actually wanted to know. But she was almost glad she had burned down that mall. They deserved it for doing this. 

“First thing’s first,” Becky said with determination, pulling on a pair of blue gloves and selecting a needle from her setup. “I need to stitch up that wound.” 

Hannah made a strangled noise as Becky threaded the needle. Lex hadn’t even noticed her sister had followed them in, and was watching the entire event unfold with wide, teary eyes. Hannah shouldn’t have been watching this shit. Some sister Lex was. 

Becky had paused her work for a moment, looking up at her beaten, tired, scared audience. 

“Tom, Professor Hidgens?” Becky’s tone left no room for argument, snow-white-like as her voice might have been. “Would you please take the girls outside while I treat Ethan?” 

Mr. Houston didn’t argue with her, and together he and Professor Hidgens herded Lex and Hannah out the door, much to Lex’s chagrin. 

Lex and Hannah were ushered out into the hallway, Mr. Houston behind them to guard the door so that Lex couldn’t just turn around and go back in. He knew her too well. 

“Mr. Houston!” She pleaded the second they were outside, trying to push past him to get to the door. “Please, lemme back in! I wanna be in there with him!” 

“Lex, I know this is killing you, but Becky needs to be alone for this,” Mr. Houston said gently but firmly, holding Lex back. “The second she says it’s okay, you can go see Ethan, alright? But right now, the best thing you can do for him is let Becky work.” 

Lex wanted to scream that this was all bullshit. She should be in there. With  _ him _ . Isn’t that how hospitals worked, anyway? Family could be in there for important, life-saving operations? Even though Lex liked Becky, leaving Ethan alone with anyone at all right now made all of Lex’s nerves run wild with fear. That didn’t help with the Emotional Tornado, which was Lex’s new nickname for the jumble of feelings stirring in her brain. 

Hannah took her hand and Lex looked down. 

“Lexie,” Hannah said softly, looking up at her with those big, big eyes. “Gotta stay out.” 

“There’s a living room right down the hall, here,” Professor Hidgens offered, gesturing down to the end of the hallway. “ I think Emma and her friend are in there. We can sit there if you want. Till he wakes up.” 

“Take Hannah,” Lex replied, sliding down the wall outside the door and putting her head down, still holding Hannah’s hand. “I don’t want to go far.” 

Hannah could tell that Lex wanted to be alone. She gave her sister’s hand another squeeze, then let go and began to follow Professor Hidgens down the hallway.

“You want someone to wait with you?” Mr. Houston asked, hanging back so that Lex could hear him. 

“No thanks, Mr. Houston,” Lex said, looking up from between her knees. “Go sit in the nice, comfy lounge for a while. You can talk to Emma.” 

Mr. Houston hesitated a minute, then nodded. “Alright, if you’re sure.” He started to follow Hannah and Professor Hidgens, but then stopped and turned back. “Lex,” he said. 

“Yeah?” 

“For the love of God,” Mr. Houston said, cracking one of his snarky smiles. “Call me Tom. We’re at that point.”

“Okay,  _ Tom.”  _ That was going to take some getting used to. 

Mr. Houst- _ Tom  _ turned and headed down the hallway and Lex was left alone.

She waited. And waited. And waited. She didn’t know how much time had passed but she did know that she almost got up and knocked on the door fifteen separate times because Becky was taking forever. 

Finally, finally, the door opened and Becky Barnes stepped out, looking absolutely exhausted. She took in Lex, sitting by the door, and gave a soft smile. 

“You can go-” Lex didn’t wait for her to finish. She threw open the door and rushed inside, shutting it behind her. She had to see him. 

Ethan looked better than he had however long ago Tom and Professor Hidgens had kicked Lex out of the makeshift hospital. The cuts on his face were cleaned of blood, and Ethan’s wrists, which had been red and scratched from fighting the twine were bandaged. 

Lex grabbed one of the folding chairs that had been stacked haphazardly against the wall and set it up at Ethan’s bedside. She didn’t know if she actually wanted to look, but she had to see, to reassure herself that the wound on his stomach didn’t look so life-threatening now. She steeled her nerves and reached out to lift the blanket Becky had covered him with. 

Ethan’s stomach was wrapped in clean, white gauze, which wasn’t stained with any of the blood that Lex had seen earlier. Lex could see the outline of the stitches, neat and precise, beneath the bandages. She didn’t dare unwrap the gauze. Becky had wrapped it so meticulously that Lex didn’t want to ruin it. 

He was breathing easier, too. Which was nice to listen to. Ethan’s steady breathing had always been more of a relaxant than weed. 

Lex reached out and took one of his hands, turning it gently in her own. He was really alive. He was here. She was holding his hand and maybe everything was going to be okay. 

Then, out of nowhere, the emotion tornado was unleashed and for the first time since she thought Ethan was dead, Lex Foster allowed herself to cry. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took forever, it was difficult to write this chapter and I forgot that doing actual schoolwork is gonna take up a big fat chunk of time. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are, as always, greatly appreciated 
> 
> Tumblr: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	13. Chapter 13 - Hannah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hannah tries to cope with the loss of Webby and realizes that it may not be so easy to just forgive and forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was feeling like some angst in this Mcdonalds tonight

Hannah followed the Professor and Tom down the hallway and into the lounge. Unlike the rest of the house, which was sort of minimal and cold-feeling, the lounge was comfortable and warm. It had leather couches and chairs arranged in a U-shape around a wide glass coffee table. A television was built into the wall above a crackling fireplace. 

Hannah immediately felt warmer and safer upon entering the room. It was almost like she had Webby back with her again, it was that feeling of being protected. But she didn’t have Webby back, and Ethan was lying in a room down the hall, with no Webby watching over  _ him  _ either. It suddenly got colder again. 

Hannah focused her energy on scanning the room. Tom’s son Tim sat on the couch next to Emma, and her friend Paul sat on Emma’s other side. Tom had gotten the name wrong. Hannah had asked Webby about them when they had first approached the car. 

Emma was currently staring at the floor, wringing her hands. Paul was tapping at his iPhone, apparently trying to make it work, but the screen stayed dark. 

Hannah knew a little about these people, but she wished Webby were here. She kept looking over at Tom. Webby had said he was good again back in Toy Zone when he’d saved them, Becky, too. But Hannah was just following Lexie and Ethan. She never was really sure that Becky and Tom wouldn’t try and hurt them again. And Ethan was alone with Becky. That made her scared. 

Emma looked up when the three came in. 

“Tom,” she said with a half-smile. “Professor Hidgens and….I didn’t catch your name.” 

“Hannah,” Hannah said, looking down at the floor. She went and sat next to Tim. She knew him from school. He was good. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Hannah,” Emma offered. 

Hannah just nodded. 

Tim smiled at her and Hannah gave him a little wave. She didn’t want to talk right now.

“Does anyone want to tell me what happened in there?” Professor Hidgens asked, breaking the silence. “And why my nephew is half-dead in my medical bay.” 

“I would also like to know that,” Emma added. "It seemed pretty crazy." 

All eyes turned to Hannah. They wanted her to tell the story of what happened. Hannah felt panic. She wanted to run. All these eyes. Suddenly she was back in the Toy Zone, with all the cultists’ eyes on her and a knife in Linda’s hand and-

_ Deep breaths.  _ Ethan had told her to take deep breaths. To count to three and hold for three and breathe out for three. She focused all her energy on deep breaths, like she had in the tunnel. 

“I can tell it,” Tom said quickly, apparently noticing Hannah’s condition. “But heads up I only know about half of it.” 

The room fell silent as Tom began to speak, slowly. “Well, I went to Toy Zone to get a Wiggly for Tim-” 

“I didn’t want a Wiggly, Dad,” Tim spoke up. His voice was quiet, but firm. Hannah didn’t want the Wiggly either. Lexie and Ethan were better than California. 

“I know, buddy,” Tom replied, reaching over to tousle his son’s hair. “But I didn’t know that yet. Anyway, when things started getting real crazy, Becky and I, we left. Headed for the exit near the Cineplex. That...that’s when we saw Ethan.” Tom sounded like he was choking up. “Two of Linda’s mother-” Tom cut himself off, looking at the two kids. “Two of Linda’s henchmen beat him pretty bad…it was too late by the time we got there. His heart had stopped, which I still don’t get. I don’t know how he’s here.” 

“Webby,” Hannah blurted out. She’d been thinking about Webby and the words just came out. “Webby saved him.” 

Everyone turned towards her. All the eyes on her made her scared all over again.

“Who’s Webby?” Emma asked. 

“Friend,” Hannah replied. “Black and white. Magic hat.” 

She reached up to her head, hoping to feel the comfort of Magic Hat, but when her fingers touched her hair, and not magic hat, Hannah began to panic. Till she remembered that Ethan had Magic Hat still. 

“To be honest, I don’t really remember much of what happened after that.” Tom shifted uncomfortably, not looking at Hannah. “Wiggly had control of my brain for a little while, until Lex snapped me out of it. Then we went to Toy Zone, got Ethan, Hannah, and Becky and came here. Very long, painful story short.” 

“Wait, wait, how’d they end up in Toy Zone?” Emma asked. “Isn’t that where this all started?”

“I didn’t want to,” Hannah said shortly. “They took us there. Me. Ethan. Becky. Bad blood.” 

“Okay…” Emma said slowly, trying to keep her tone level. “So what happened after that?” 

“Tried to make me give them the doll,” Hannah continued. She put her hand up and tugged on one of her braids. Usually that made her feel better, but now she just thought of the Crazy Lawyer Man when he had gripped her braids when he brought her and Ethan to Toy Zone. She quickly put her hand down. “But I didn’t have it. He took it.” She pointed at Tom while keeping her focus on her lap. 

She wished Webby was here. If Webby was here, Webby would have reminded Hannah that things were going to be okay. Hannah kept waiting for Webby to talk to her, but it never came.

“And then...and then….” Linda with the knife. Pointing it first at Hannah. Then having Checkered Hat Man threaten Ethan. The empty space in her brain where Webby used to be suddenly seemed even emptier. 

_ Deep breaths, Hannah.  _ But the deep breaths didn’t work this time. She looked up, teary-eyed. Everyone was staring at her and the next thing Hannah knew she was running. Back down the hallway, back towards the room that Ethan was in. 

Hannah ran smack into another body, and looked up to see Becky coming down the hall. She looked very tired, but smiled at Hannah anyway. 

Hannah tried to run past her but Becky took her arm gently. “Hey, what’s wrong, Hannah?” 

Hannah screamed and tried to pull away from Becky, who quickly let go when Hannah started fighting, looking startled. 

“I’m sorry,” Becky began, eyes wide. “I didn’t mean-” 

“I want Ethan!” Hannah wailed. “And Lexie!” 

“Okay, okay,” Becky said gently. “They’re in there. We can go see them together, hmm?” Becky pointed to the door that she had just come out of. 

Hannah pushed past her and opened the door. Lexie sat next to Ethan’s bedside, holding his hand and had buried her face in her free arm. Becky followed Hannah into the room, keeping her distance. 

“Lexie?” Hannah said, and Lexie looked up. Her eyes were red, like they were all those times she thought Hannah didn’t know she was crying. Quickly, Lex wiped her eyes and held her arm out for her sister. 

“Hey, Banana.” 

Hannah ran into her sister’s outstretched arm and Lexie pulled her close. “I’m sorry, Lexie, they were talking about the mall and I got scared and there’s no Webby anymore and so I wanted to see you and Ethan and make sure the magic hat was safe and then-” 

“Deep breaths, Banana,” Lexie cut her off gently. Her breathing was almost as shallow and labored as Hannah’s. “Deep breaths, just like Ethan always says. Breathe with me, yeah?”

_ In. Out. In Out.  _ Hannah’s breathing was synced up with her sister’s, and she did feel better after a few moments. But she didn’t leave Lexie’s arms. 

“I should go,” Becky said softly, starting to exit the room. 

“Thanks, Becky,” Lex said quickly. “For, you know-” she gestured to Ethan, who now had bandages on all his cuts and his stab wound was all stitched up. 

“Of course, Lex,” Becky replied with a smile. “I’ll be in the lounge with the others if you need anything.” 

Lex nodded, turning back to Ethan. Hannah smiled at Becky, even though she was still kind of scared of her. But she had saved Ethan, which meant she was at least a little bit good. Becky’s smile widened as she walked out the door, and Hannah turned back to Ethan. 

“What do we do now?” She asked Lexie. 

“Well, Hannah,” Lex said, pulling her sister close. “Becky’s already done all she can. Now you and me, we just wait for him to wake up.” 

Neither of the sisters brought up the possibility that he might not. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! 
> 
> Also I just wanted to say that if any highschool/college seniors are reading this, I'm sorry that this year sucks for all of us, and I feel you. It sucks for me too, and I really hope we all get to celebrate the accomplishment of surviving school somehow in this shitshow. <3
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! Comments/kudos are always appreciated. 
> 
> Tumblr: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	14. Chapter 14 - Lex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex sends Hannah off to bed, and she and Tom Houston play the ever-dreaded 'ask personal questions game,' but it ends up turning out okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, writer's block is kind of a bitch sorry this took like 4 years

Lex was at a loss. She held her crying sister in her arms, Ethan was unconscious, lying in bed beside her, and for the first time in years, Lex didn’t know what the fuck she was going to do. 

Usually, Lex had a plan. She was faced with two equally shitty situations, because the universe had its way of working against Lex Foster. She would assess her options in a situation and pick the least shitty one. Then she would figure out what the fuck she needed to do to achieve that plan. 

Then, Ethan had come along, and Lex had started seeing good options in her life. Options that still required planning and time and hardship, but for the first time, the options seemed to lead to something bright and beautiful. 

Now she was back at square one, staring down at the bed and trying her best not to cry in front of her sister. 

The door creaked open behind her but Lex didn’t bother to turn around. She really didn’t care who it was. 

“Lex?” Mr. Houston’s, no, he had told Lex to call him  _ Tom _ , his voice asked from the doorway. 

“What’s up?” She replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Did he really have to come in right now. It wasn’t like Lex was going to chase him away, but she really didn’t want her shop teacher to witness her crying. He’d already seen it once today. 

“Beck just joined us in the lounge, so I thought I’d come in and check on you guys and Ethan.” Mr. Houston came over and Lex felt Hannah stiffen in her arms. She squeezed her arm in an attempt to soothe her, but Hannah only buried her head into Lex’s shoulder. 

“Deep breaths, Banana,” Lex murmured. Ethan had taught her that one. It seemed to help Hannah a lot. “Deep breaths.” 

She glanced over at Tom, god, it was so weird calling him  _ Tom,  _ who hadn’t come any closer after seeing Hannah’s condition. He sort of hovered awkwardly a few feet away, holding a chair he must have gotten from the stack. He just watched Lex attempt to soothe Hannah with something like longing in his eyes. 

Lex gave him a half-smile and a jerk of her head, signalling for him to come closer. He hesitated, obviously blaming his presence for Hannah’s tears. But Lex nodded more insistently and Tom Houston moved over and set up his chair on the opposite side from Lex and Hannah. He looked down at Ethan’s still body as Hannah shifted in Lex’s arms, looking at Tom warily. 

She yawned and Lex looked down. Hannah was nodding off against Lex’s shoulder, absolutely exhausted but desperately trying to stay awake. 

“Why don’t you go get some sleep, Banana?” Lex said gently. “It’ll be okay. You’ve had a long day.” 

Hannah shook her head. “No. Wanna stay.” 

Part of Lex didn’t want to be separated from her sister, she never really did, but the other, selfish part of her wanted some time to talk to Mr. Houston, she was just going to keep calling him that, and some time to process her thoughts and feelings. Hannah’s arrival hadn’t given her time to properly go through it all in her head. Besides, Hannah was practically falling asleep on her anyway. 

“Go back to the lounge, Hannah Banana,” she requested gently. “Becky and Professor Hidgens are good. They’ll show you where you can sleep.” 

“But Webby isn’t there to tell me if it’s okay,” Hannah protested, rubbing at her eyes. “I wanna know if we’re safe….” She trailed off. Lex felt like an idiot. Webby had been Hannah’s best friend for so long, and now her little sister must be devastated at her loss. 

“Webby would want you to get some sleep, Han,” Lex said gently, kissing her sister’s head. “We’re gonna need you in tip-top shape to get to California when Ethan wakes up.” 

She didn’t mention that she currently had no idea how they would get there now, since selling a Wiggly hadn’t gone very well, or the fact that Ethan, as of right now, was not awake. She had gotten good at filtering her thoughts for her sister. 

“But what if the bad guys come back?” She protested. 

“They won’t,” Mr. Houston spoke up this time, to Lex’s surprise. He had been looking over Ethan, pointedly not interrupting the sisters’ conversation. “Hannah, I know you’re scared, but I promise that I’m gonna do everything I can to keep you guys safe. I promise.” 

Hannah stood from her position and looked Mr. Houston directly in the eye for a long moment. Mr. Houston didn’t look away or look uncomfortable, as most people did with Hannah, he just met her eyes evenly, allowing her to scrutinize his face for a lie. 

Finally, Hannah nodded and gave Lex a hug. Lex kissed her sister on the cheek, and told her she would check on her in a bit. Hannah nodded with a yawn, squeezed her sister tightly, and meandered out the door, rubbing her eyes. 

Once the door was closed, Lex turned to Mr. Houston. 

“You’re good with her,” he said softly. “It’s admirable.” 

“So are you,” Lex replied with a teary smile, taking Ethan’s hand again. “Whatever happened in that mall, that was helpful just then. You helped.” 

“Thanks,” Mr. Houston said with a nod, looking back down at Ethan the same way he looked when he hugged his kid back at the door.

“Mr. Houston?” Lex ventured after a moment. 

“Yeah?” 

Lex really didn’t know what to say after that. What was there to say? She had never been a real conversationalist, and the millions of questions bouncing through her head didn’t seem like it was any of her business, but…

“Why do you look at Ethan like he’s your kid?” She blurted out. 

_ Nice one, Lex.  _ It was true, though, Mr. Houston looked at Ethan the same way he looked at Tim. He looked so  _ dadlike.  _ Lex had been happy when she first noticed it, because Ethan deserved a better dad. 

Mr. Houston didn’t answer for a moment, and Lex feared she had upset him, but then he opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and began to speak. 

“When Jane was, you know, still around, she was better with Tim than I was,” Mr. Houston began, with a sigh. “He and I just never….clicked as much as they did. It was never her fault, Jane never meant for it to be like that, it’s just how it was. Tim never wanted to talk about shop or cars or anything like that, and, I don’t know… When Ethan started hanging back after class and asking me about car models or some engineering principle, it felt good to have a connection with a kid, you know. It made me feel better, which is a terrible thing to say, but after he started asking me for advice and stuff, it felt good to sorta have a kid who understood me, you know?” Mr. Houston looked down. “That sounds terrible, but…” 

“No, no,” Lex said. She looked up at him. “I get it.” And she did. She really really did. Lex loved Hannah more than anything in the world, but when Ethan came along, Lex had realized how lonely she was, how nice it was to be on the exact same page as someone. Involuntarily, she squeezed Ethan’s hand. He didn’t stir. 

“So, if we’re playing the ‘ask personal questions’ game,” Mr. Houston asked. “Why California? Why do you wanna leave so bad?” 

Lex was sure Mr. Houston already knew the answer by the way he was looking at her. Ethan had told her that Mr. Houston had asked him about the bruises that appeared so often on his face, and hadn’t believed him when he said they were from a fight. Ethan  _ was  _ a terrible liar. He’d asked Lex the same thing. She was a better liar.

Even now, she hesitated in telling him. When they’d first come up with the California plan, on a bad night for both of them, they’d sworn never to tell anyone about what happened at home. Telling meant CPS getting involved, CPS getting involved meant being separated, and Lex was not about to let that happen. But she could trust Mr. Houston, couldn’t she? 

There probably wasn’t any more CPS to call. 

“It’s not safe for us here. Any of us.” Lex didn’t elaborate any farther, she probably didn’t need to. “And California’s where you go for acting, so… yeah, Cali.” 

Mr. Houston just looked at her like she’d dropped from Mars. “Lex…”

“But it doesn’t matter now,” Lex said quickly. “Because my grand plan to sell a Wiggly for a ridiculous amount of money and dip out kind of went up in flames, so we’re stuck in Hatchetfield for a while, I guess.” 

“I’ll help you get there,” Mr. Houston said firmly. “Whatever it takes, you guys are gonna get to California.” 

The one thing that Lex had always admired about Mr. Houston was that when he set his mind to something, he never stopped until it got done. He was stubborn like that. But Lex didn’t want to rely on Mr. Houston, or anyone, really. She also didn’t understand why he was suddenly trying to be Captain Dad, after he’d abandoned her when he quit teaching. 

Then Lex hated herself for having that thought, because she’d only lost Ethan for about an hour, and it fucked with her head more than she cared to admit. Mr. Houston blamed himself for his wife’s death. Lex knew that must have been harder for him than he would ever let on. If Lex had  _ actually  _ lost Ethan, and the thought alone made her shudder, then she wouldn’t have wanted to do anything either. Come to think of it, she really didn’t want to do anything now either. 

“Thanks,” she said halfheartedly. “That’s nice of you.” Absentmindedly, she began to play with Ethan’s fingers, something she always did when she was upset. 

“He’ll be okay, Lex,” Mr. Houston said. “He’s a tough kid.” 

“I know.” Lex hoped she sounded like she believed him, but the universe had its way of working against Lex Foster. 

She could tell that Mr. Houston wanted to press her further about what she, Ethan and Hannah been through at the hands of their parents, but he was looking at her face and he let the subject drop, for now. 

Mr. Houston tried to encourage her to get some rest, but save for checking on Hannah, who was fast asleep in one of the bedrooms, failing to stir when Lex entered, she didn’t leave the infirmary. Eventually, Mr. Houston retired too, so Lex was alone with her thoughts. It had been nice having company, though she’d never admit it to Tom Houston. Ever. 

Thirteen hours, twenty seven minutes and thirty seconds later, when Ethan Green’s eyes opened. Lex still hadn’t left his side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I considered making it a cliffhanger but i decided ive been mean enough 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Comments and kudos are, as always, greatly appreciated! 
> 
> Tumblr dot com: @thegalwhoreallylikemusicals


	15. Chapter 15 - Ethan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan wakes up to his friends and family surrounding him, in a very familiar bunker, and reveals his brilliant plan to get himself, Lex and Hannah CaliforMIA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Ethan naming his car Marilyn is the hill I am going to die on (ten bonus points to whoever gets who marilyn is named after, it's probably the one you're thinking) 
> 
> 2\. sorry this took forever but i graduated from high school today, so thats kinda cool so no more classes for me so hopefully these stop taking me years to write

Ethan felt like he’d been hit by a truck. His entire body hurt and he still saw black. Probably because his eyes were closed, something that took a little bit too long to dawn on him. He wished he could just go back to sleep and the pain would just go away. He kept his eyes closed, and tried to will sleep to come, but it wouldn’t. 

_ Ugh.  _ Ethan thought. Then a voice above him cut through the ringing in his ears and it made him perk right up. 

_ Lex.  _ That was Lex talking. Ethan didn’t know how long he’d been out, but he missed her already. He always missed her when they were apart. Things were always suckier. But hearing the exhaustion and worry in Lex’s voice made him force his eyes open. 

Seeing Lex’s face made it worth it. He watched her expression go from resigned exhaustion to absolute ecstasy in a fraction of a second. She sat above him, holding his good hand tightly. They seemed to have gotten away from the mall. How they’d done that, he had no idea. He didn’t remember much after throwing the knife at Checkered Hat Man. 

“Hi,” he managed to get out. 

“Hey, sleepyhead” she said softly, her expression full of affection. If she was gonna look at him like this when he was hurt, he really needed to get injured more often. He didn’t dare say that, but the thought made his mouth twist into a soft smile. “How’re you feeling?” 

“Like shit,” Ethan admitted. 

“I’ll bet.” Lex ran her thumb over his knuckles and studied his face, her brow furrowed in a sort of gentle concern. “They really did a number on you, huh, E?” 

“Mhm, you’re telling me,” Ethan said with a soft laugh, which both helped and hurt at the same time. It hurt because it agitated his ribs, which had  _ definitely  _ been cracked, but it helped to laugh. It made everything feel more….normal. Even though normal was the farthest word from describing what they’d been through. 

“You had me worried for a second there,” Lex said softly, startling him a bit. Lex didn’t talk about her feelings, ever, really. She would bottle it up and then when it all got too much she would bury her face in his leather jacket and sob bitter tears while he held her. She never spoke aloud what she felt, even though Ethan tried to encourage it and he was willing to listen. Whatever had happened must have been dire. 

“Aww, who, me?” He managed to joke, and was relieved to see Lex giggle softly. “You shouldn’t have.” 

“Shut up,” She said, rolling her eyes and smiling in fond exasperation. “How much do you remember?” 

“Not much,” he admitted. “Basically nothing post-knife-throw. By the way, where are we?” 

Ethan tried to lift his head to get a better look at their surroundings. It didn’t look like a hospital. It looked vaguely familiar, though Ethan couldn’t exactly place it. Lex stopped him from sitting up, placing a firm hand on his shoulder and guiding him back down to the bed. 

“Uh-uh,” Lex said. “Not on my watch. I’m under strict orders to keep you on bedrest.” She smiled another one of her heart-melting smiles down at him. “Speaking of, I should really call the others. They will  _ kill  _ me if they find out you woke up and I didn’t tell. I just wanted you to myself for a second.” 

Ethan bit his tongue to stop himself from whining like a brat as Lex moved away from him, but he really didn’t want to be apart from her right now. Even her going to the doorway freaked him out more than he wanted to admit. 

“Guys!” Lex called out the door. “He’s awake!” 

The next thing Ethan heard was the pitter-patter of Hannah’s feet running at a breakneck pace down the hallway. Hannah appeared in the doorway and Lex had to stop her from launching herself onto the bed. Realizing that jumping on him wasn’t such a good idea, Hannah scampered over to the side of the bed. 

“Ethan!” she said happily. “Awake!” 

“Yep,” Ethan agreed. “I’m awake.” He patted the side of the bed that had his good arm. “C’mere, Banana Split.” 

“Ethan-” Lex began but he cut her off. 

“Please, I’m not sitting up,” Ethan said. “As long as she doesn’t jostle my ribs it’s fine.” 

Lex rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she relented. “But when Tom yells at you, don’t look at me.” 

Hannah grinned and carefully crawled up next to Ethan, settling her head in the crook of his good arm. 

“Hey, Banana,” Ethan said. “Thank Webby for me, will you? I think that hat of yours really helped.” He grinned at her, but was taken aback by the suddenly-somber expression on Hannah’s face. 

“Ah,” Lex said, looking away. “About Webby….” 

Before she could continue, another few figures entered the doorway: Mr. Houston, Becky Nursing Scrubs, and….

“Uncle Henry?” Ethan asked incredulously. Henry Hidgens, his mother’s elder brother, whom Ethan hadn’t seen in probably four years. Now he remembered why this place looked so familiar. He’d only been in this room once, when he was about ten and his mom was still around. Ethan had skinned his knee riding his skateboard out front, and Uncle Henry had brought him in here to clean the wound and put a band-aid on it. 

“It’s me,” Uncle Henry confirmed, reaching the side of the bed. 

“Holy shit,” Ethan said and Uncle Henry just nodded, looking down at him with concern. Ethan felt a twinge of longing. That was the exact expression his mom would look at him with when he was sick as a little kid. He still remembered it.“Wait...how did we get  _ here _ ? Lex, where’s Marilyn? Did you take her?” His brain was trying to rationalize how Lex and Tom, who did not know where Uncle Henry lived, to his knowledge, had gotten them here. And he still was wondering what Lex was going to say about Webby. He decided to start small, though. His jalopy  _ was  _ kind of important in the whole grand scheme of California. 

“Who is Marilyn?” Tom asked, looking over at Lex with a raised eyebrow. He hadn’t yelled at Ethan or Hannah for Hannah’s lying on the bed beside him, which he was grateful for. He kind of needed her closeness right now. 

“Marilyn is Ethan’s jalo- _ car _ ,” Lex said, with another fondly exasperated look at him. “Because he  _ really  _ has his priorities straight.” 

“Hey, I like Marilyn,” Ethan protested. 

“I hate to say it, kid,” Tom spoke up, cutting off his next sentence, which was going to be about Cali. “But I think Marilyn might be toast. It might have survived the fire, but there’s no guarantees.” 

“Fire?” Ethan asked, momentarily forgetting about the well-being of his jalopy. “Did the mall burn down?”

“Courtesy of Miss Pyromaniac over there,” Tom said, indicating Lex, who grinned sheepishly. “How’re you feeling?” 

“Like I just got hit by a car,” Ethan said matter-of-factly. “Other than that, I’m great.” 

Mr. Houston chuckled. “Well, you’ve still got your sarcasm, so I think you’re gonna be fine.” 

But Lex...” Ethan turned back to her, looked around at the adults in the room nervously. They had never discussed the California plan with anyone but Hannah. “We need Marilyn for, you know, the plan. That’s why I’m asking.” 

“I told Mr. Houston about the plan already,” Lex said, picking up on his tension. “And even if we did have Marilyn, I don’t think executing Operation Califor MIA is a real thing we can do right now. We’ve got zero dollars, babe.” 

Ethan smiled faintly at Lex’s use of Operation Califor MIA. It was a name he’d invented back when they’d first come up with the plan. He’d made Lex laugh by comparing it to a secret spy mission all their own, and Hannah loved it, too. He also smiled because the same thought had occurred to him back in the mall, and he’d had a split-second, arguably genius, plan. But that was a discussion to have with Lex when they were alone. Instead, he changed the subject. 

“So, how did we all get here?” Ethan asked the room. “You’ll have to bring me up to speed, seeing as I was passed out for the most part.” 

“Yeah, a concussion like you had will do that to you,” Becky Nursing Scrubs remarked, smiling at him gently. Seeing her here made Ethan a little uneasy, because their last interaction had involved her stabbing him with a needle, which had  _ not  _ ended well. Now, as the others were gathered around Ethan, she was surveying him critically, noting his injuries. “Emma met us outside the mall, and suggested that we weather the storm here. This was also a place where I could treat you, which you desperately needed.” 

Ethan bit back the urge to reply ‘ _ you don’t say. _ ’ Becky didn’t deserve his attitude. Aside from the whole stabbing-him-with-a-needle thing, Becky Nursing Scrubs seemed nice. And she’d probably been the one to patch him up, which warranted some gratitude. 

“Yeah, um, thanks for that,” he managed. The pain sucked, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been when he’d first woken up in the mall, even with Webby. 

“Oh, you’re very welcome,” Becky said, casually waving off his gratitude and giving him another gentle smile. Ethan didn’t know if it was being in Uncle Henry’s house, or if the injuries were getting to his head, but Ethan was once again reminded of his mother. He tried not to think about her too much, because it pissed him off, but he found himself missing her right about now. He shook the thought from his head. Who needed a mom when you had a girlfriend, a little sister, a cosmic spider from outer space and a magic hat. 

Then Ethan realized that he couldn’t hear Webby in his head anymore. He figured she’d be on overdrive giving him advice and catching him up, which wouldn’t have been unwelcome. Maybe that had something to do with Hannah’s somber expression from earlier, and whatever Lex was going to say about Webby. 

“We drove here,” Hannah said, somehow anticipating Ethan’s train of thought. Maybe she could still telepathically communicate with him or something, which would be infinitely cool. But the somber expression he saw on her face before she hid it in his shoulder made his stomach twist in concern. “Bomb almost blew us up. Webby saved us. Now she’s….gone.” 

“Gone like, like she’s  _ dead _ ?” Ethan asked, his eyes widening at the mere thought of it. Webby couldn’t  _ die  _ could she? After all she’d done for them? He wasn't even going to start processing the fact that a bomb had almost been dropped on their heads. He could only handle so many earth-shattering near death experiences at once. 

“Not dead,” Hannah said firmly, her voice tinged with sadness. “Just gone. Can’t talk anymore.” 

Ethan nodded. “I’m sorry, Hannah. I know you two were good friends.” 

“It’s okay,” Hannah said, though she didn’t quite look convinced of the fact.

Lex squeezed his good hand and he looked up at her. She smiled down at him, but seemed distracted by something. She’d been a little bit spacey since they’d talked about California. He knew that everyone in the room was worried about him, and he  _ did  _ want to catch up with Uncle Henry, maybe have that conversation he’d been avoiding for four years. The one about his mom. But the selfish part of him  _ really  _ just wanted some alone time with Lex right about now. And maybe Hannah too. He didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, they’d sacrificed a lot to get him to safety. They’d risked their fucking  _ lives _ for him. It was selfish to begrudge their concern. 

It was Becky who picked up on his discomfort. He didn’t know how. He was trying his best not to show it, and Tom and Uncle Henry didn’t seem to notice. But Becky just looked between him and Lex, gave a knowing smile, and spoke up. 

“Tom, Professor,” she said in her soothing, Snow-White esque voice. “Maybe we should step out. Give Ethan and Lex a few minutes alone.” 

Tom shrugged. “Okay.” He turned to Ethan. “I’ll come check on you later, kid,” he promised, and Ethan nodded, another pang of gratitude for Mr. Houston’s concern welling up in him. Then left the room with Becky following close at his heels. 

Uncle Henry seemed more reluctant to leave Ethan’s bedside. He took a few steps back before hovering awkwardly, looking down at Ethan with that same concerned look that his mother would have. 

“Uncle Henry, I’m fine,” Ethan reassured him. “Really. We should talk later, though, about…You know.” 

The ‘you-know-what’ in question was a conversation Ethan had been avoiding for years, a conversation about his mom. Promising that conversation might give Uncle Henry something to focus on besides Ethan’s well-being. And he’d been avoiding it for eight years, so it was probably a good time to have it, since it didn’t look like they were going anywhere right now. 

“Yes,” Uncle Henry agreed, suddenly seeming more lost in thought than concerned, which is what Ethan had hoped for. “We should.” 

“Really, Uncle Henry,” Ethan said. “You can go out with the others.” 

Reluctantly, Uncle Henry nodded and, with one last once-over for Ethan, he left the infirmary, closing the door behind him. 

The second he was gone, Ethan started talking, and Hannah sat up from her position in his arms with interest. “Okay, so I didn’t want to say anything while all the adults were in here, because I love Uncle Henry and Mr. Houston, but they’re gonna yell at me for thinking too hard about Cali, but…” 

“But…?” Lex asked softly. 

“Shit, where’s my leather jacket?” He asked. “I had a super secret plan to get us to California that involves the jacket.” 

“It’s on one of the chairs over there,” Lex said, waving vaguely. She smiled down at him, squeezing his hand again. “Again with the priorities, babe.” 

“Check the inside pocket,” Ethan instructed.

Lex started to move towards the jacket, but Hannah popped out of bed so quickly that Ethan winced a bit. He tried to disguise it, but Lex noticed and raised an ‘I told you so’ eyebrow at him. He just shrugged as Hannah found the jacket and fished around in the pockets. 

“Found it!” She said triumphantly, holding the, very thick, wallet of one Gary Goldstein aloft. It had fallen near Ethan during Gary’s confrontation with Mr. Houston, and he’d figured he was entitled to a little petty thievery. The guy had helped murder Ethan after all. He had a bone to pick with Gary. 

Hannah brought the wallet over and Lex opened it. “Holy shit.” 

“Yep,” Ethan said. “I don’t really know how much is in it, but it fell during the whole Toy Zone shit, and I decided we need it more than he does. Besides, I’m kinda pissed at him.” 

Lex snickered. “Me too.” She stared down at the wallet in her hands. “I mean, I don’t know exactly how much is in this wallet, but I think it’s all hundreds, plus his credit cards. I think…” Lex looked up, her eyes shining, and suddenly everything he’d been through for the random coincidence of getting that wallet was worth it. “I think maybe, with this, we really could do it.” 

“California!” Hannah cheered. Then she looked down at the bed. “Once Ethan’s better?” 

“Once Ethan’s better,” Lex agreed, taking his good hand once again and giving it a gentle squeeze. “You’re a hero, babe.” She said it so quietly that Ethan almost didn’t hear her, but he smiled and squeezed her hand back. 

“Hannah?” Came a child’s voice from the doorway. Ethan glanced over to see Mr. Houston’s kid hovering in the doorway. 

“Oh. Hi Tim,” Hannah said, giving him a smile. 

“Um, if you’re not busy, do you wanna finish our game?” He asked, fidgeting with the sleeve of his shirt like Hannah did sometimes. 

Hannah turned to look at Ethan, clearly, she was as reluctant to leave him as Uncle Henry had been. 

“Go play, Banana Split,” he said, cracking a small smile. “I’ll still be here when you get back. Don’t you worry.” 

Hannah nodded, and scampered off to join Tim in the doorway. Together, the two of them scurried back into the hallway and out of sight, leaving Ethan and Lex alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed and thanks for waiting for this! 
> 
> Comments and kudos are my absolute lifeblood and make me happy! 
> 
> Tumblr for very specific subpar memes: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	16. Chapter 16 - Ethan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex finally tells Ethan that kind of very important thing she has to tell him, and it ends, as all good love stories do, with a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imma be real i rewrote this like 16 times but this is a version i am HAPPY with

“So, you burned down the mall?” He asked, an impish grin coming over his face as soon as he and Lex were alone. “Miss Pyromaniac.” 

“Okay, first of all,” Lex said with a soft laugh. “We are  _ not  _ making Miss Pyromaniac the thing-” 

“Why not?” Ethan protested. “Miss Pyromaniac is such a badass name, it’s like, Miss America but with fire. Or it could be, like, your superhero name!” 

“That’s the lamest fucking superhero name ever.” Lex rolled her eyes, and began listing superheroes on her fingers. “Captain America, Batman, Wonder Woman,  _ Miss Pyromaniac _ .” 

“Not any lamer than  _ Batman _ !” Ethan had always hated Batman, mostly on principle, because his name sucked and he was just a rich guy with no actual superpowers who fought  _ much  _ more interesting villains. Lex had heard him rant about this topic before, and she just rolled her eyes at him. 

“Dumb nicknames aside,” she said, running a thumb gently over his knuckles. She hadn’t let go of his hand since she’d put the wallet down, and if she kept holding it forever, it was fine by him. “Yeah, I burned down the mall.” 

“Damn, I can’t believe I missed that,” Ethan said, shaking his head in disappointment. He smirked up at Lex “That must’ve been so fucking hot. Literally.” 

“Jesus fucking….” Lex tried to look like she was absolutely done with him, but she was hiding a smile behind her free hand. “Well, as long as you’re making terrible jokes, I know you’re feeling a little bit better, at least.” 

“I will  _ always  _ make bad jokes,” Ethan reassured her. “It’s in my nature.” 

“Oh, I know,” Lex said, patting his hand with another roll of her eyes. He tended to make her do that a lot. “Don’t you worry.” 

“So, details Miss Pyromaniac,” Ethan said. He was eager to hear his girlfriend’s account of her moment of badassery, and he knew his biggest regret would be missing it. “Give em to me.” 

“Well, I used your lighter to do it. You know, the one I stole from you while we were smoking,” Lex remarked, examining something on his face before Ethan met her eyes and she looked away. “Thought it would be kind of appropriate, I mean, I wasn’t thinking about that at the time, I just needed something to make fire, but looking back on it, it seemed like the right firestarter to use.” 

“Good,” Ethan scoffed. “Least I did something to get you guys outta there.” 

“You did lots of things to get us out of there,” Lex said, a certain fierceness coming into her voice, like she was ready to fistfight anyone who dared say he wasn’t helpful. 

Ethan didn’t really feel helpful. Sure, fighting those guys and protecting Hannah had been good. Still, that had killed him, and then, with his second chance to protect Hannah, he’d proceeded to be drugged and kidnapped by Linda’s goon squad, and messed up their escape before his girlfriend and shop teacher rescued him. Then he’d passed out. Real hero behavior. However, the look on his girlfriend’s face told him it would be wise not to argue with her. 

“I mean it, E,” Lex said softly, moving a hand up to touch his cheek. She only used her pet nickname for him whenever one or both of them was really upset, or she wanted to make a point. Using his nickname was the way to get him to listen. She was way too good at telling what he was thinking. They had spent long enough comforting one another that they were essentially telepathic at this point. “Hannah might be  _ dead  _ if not for you. And that stunt you pulled? Punching Linda? However dumb it was, that probably saved her too. So, none of the ‘I didn’t help because I was stabbed’ shit. You’re not Superman. You helped. And we made it out of there.” 

Ethan just nodded. He was glad that Lex thought he had done something to protect Hannah. He would’ve done it, even if it meant staying dead. Without Webby he  _ would  _ have stayed dead. He shuddered and thought about that. About Hannah having to face Linda alone. Sure, being Linda’s captive had absolutely sucked, and he could still feel the knife at his throat, restricting his already labored breathing, but at least he and Hannah had faced it together. Funny how he didn’t fear his own death, but Hannah’s suffering without him. He wouldn’t have it any other way. But Lex was right. They made it out of there. It didn’t matter now. 

“Uh, anyway,” Lex said, shaking her head to clear it. Something else he’d noticed about her. She did that sometimes. “Linda got shot by Becky, I lit Wiggly on fire with your lighter. We didn’t stick around after that. Then, you mostly know the rest.” 

“Yeah,” Ethan agreed. It was still kind of hard to wrap his mind around the fact that Hatchetfield had almost been fucking bombed, and they all would have died if not for Webby. But that was processing for another day. Right now, he was just relishing being here with Lex, alive with her holding his hand. “We made it out, and when I’m better, we’re going to Cali.” He squeezed her hand with some effort. “You. Me. Banana. We get that good old fashioned happy ending.” 

“Yeah,” Lex agreed with a nod. But she looked a little distracted, introspective, which was a word Ethan had just learned last week. It seemed to apply here, though. And he could tell something was off with his girl. He tried to get a read on what she was thinking, and he couldn’t, which freaked him out a little. She wouldn’t meet his eyes. 

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Ethan tried to prop himself on his elbows and then regretted it immediately as pain shot through his busted ribs. “Ow.  _ Fuck _ .” He let himself drop back to the pillows as Lex’s eyes widened. 

“Don’t  _ do  _ that, you idiot!” She snapped, a sort of desperation coming into her voice. He hadn’t heard her sound like that in two years: since the birth of Operation CaliforM.I.A. “You’re hurt, remember?” 

“Yeah, just was reminded,” Ethan grumbled as the pain in his ribs subsided. “Seriously, though, Lex. You look freaked out. What’s wrong?” He looked up at her pleadingly. He hated seeing her like this. 

“It’s nothing,” Lex said softly. “Really. Nothing.” 

“You are a liar, Lex Foster,” Ethan replied. “L-i-e-r, liar.” He squeezed her hand tight, and he could almost see her resolve crumbling. “C’mon, you know you can tell me anything.” 

Lex seemed to be steeling her nerves. Ethan wondered what it could be that had gotten her so worked up like this. She wasn’t usually like that, especially not with him. He started to get a little nervous, until he looked up to find tears spilling over in Lex’s eyes. 

“I….I dunno,” Lex said finally. “It’s stupid. I just….I’ve never believed in fairytale endings and all this seems too good to be true and I’m just so afraid that this is all a dream and I’m gonna wake up and you and Banana will actually be gone and I could never live like that.” It all came spilling out of her, as if they’d been at the forefront of her mind and Ethan’s pleading had opened the floodgates. “The universe has ways of working against me, you know?” 

“Lex,” Ethan said softly. He tried to formulate a response for that. Usually, when she cried like this, he’d just wrap her in his arms and let her sob her bitter tears and scream into his chest how unfair the world was, then he’d promise her they’d get to California someday. That wasn’t going to work here. 

In a moment of impulse, Ethan took Lex’s hand, still clasped in his, and pressed her fingers against the side of his neck, where she could feel his pulse. Steady and comforting, he hoped. If he didn’t have a heartbeat then this was about to get really awkward. Luckily for him, he seemed to in fact have a heartbeat, and Lex pressed her fingers against the vein firmly, letting his heartbeat move her fingers. She seemed to relax a little. 

“See?” He said with a soft chuckle. “I’m alive, Lex, mostly thanks to you. And we’re gonna make it outta here, I know it. We’re gonna be Califor M.I.A., because we’ve spent the last two years working towards it, and you fucking deserve it, and I promised you years ago that we were gonna make it, and I’m not gonna break it. And I’m  _ definitely  _ not going anywhere anytime soon.” Normally, Ethan wasn’t this good with words, but being here, in the aftermath of near-certain death, lying in a hospital bed with Lex holding his hand, it somehow made it easier to let his feelings spill out. Especially if it was for her. 

Lex stayed silent for a long time, just letting the few stray tears roll down her face. Ethan gripped her hand tighter, wishing he could wrap his arms around her like he usually did, but his busted ribs probably wouldn’t be too happy about that. Neither would Lex. 

Finally she spoke, tears shining in her eyes as they locked with his. 

“I love you.” 

It was the first time she’d ever said it to him. He’d secretly wished she would tell him for years, but never pressed her. He’d accepted long ago that the utmost priority in her heart would always be Hannah, which was fine by him. Seemingly, though, something had shifted. 

“I...I should’ve said it sooner, and when I thought you were dead the first thing I thought was that I never told you, and then I thought I was gonna lose you again and I just kept thinking about it, so while we’re talking about our feelings or whatever….” Lex smiled at him more tenderly than he’d ever seen her smile. “Yeah, I love you.” 

She leaned down and kissed him, a real, passionate, proper kiss that he hadn’t had in over a day. 24 hours was really entirely too long to go without kissing Lex Foster. As it was, the kiss set all his nerves on fire, and every coherent thought in his brain, any eloquent response to all of the beautiful things she’d just said to him just, kinda, flew out the window. 

He searched for the brainpower to tell her exactly how much she meant to him Everything, really. Her and Hannah. They were everything to him. As it stood, he only had the brain cell capacity for four whole words after she pulled away. They were an appropriate response, at least. 

“I love you too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments and kudos are, as always very appreciated and really i love comments so please feel free to leave them!! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! We're getting near the end, of this book anyway....
> 
> Tumblr: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	17. Chapter 17 - Lex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex finds herself questioning whether or not her new family should move to California, then proceeds to go online apartment hunting with Becky and Emma as their little family bonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're just gonna ignore the fact that this took a month,,,,sorry oops

For being stuck in a crazy science professor’s apocalypse bunker with seven other people, the next month and a half was rather enjoyable, and the first few weeks practically flew by. 

Lex mostly stuck by Ethan’s side until he began to recover, going so far as to drag a mattress into the infirmary so she and Hannah could sleep there. More often than not, Lex would wake with a start, not finding Hannah beside her, only to find her snuggled on Ethan’s good side, both of them sleeping peacefully. The sight warmed her heart, and she took more than a few pictures of them like that, and spent her time scrolling through them, pondering which ones she’d put on their walls in California. 

More and more often, though, she’d find herself feeling guilty about California. About still wanting to leave this place. Tom (she’d started calling him that now) and Becky had been nothing but good to them. They’d almost laid down their  _ lives  _ so Lex, Hannah, and Ethan could get to this bunker, and now Lex had a more stable life than she’d had in years. Ethan and Hannah too. A blind person could see how happy Professor Hidgens was to have his nephew back in his life, and Ethan seemed to look lighter, a little more free, with the safety and stability that neither of their homes had ever really provided. She wondered if it was best for them to stay here for a little while. 

But Hatchetfield also carried dark memories that even Professor Hidgens’ bunker couldn’t keep out. Lex could swear she’d see Linda Monroe or Checkered Hat Man, grinning at her in dark corners, passing a knife from hand to hand. She’d almost tackled Hannah once because she thought she saw a cultist near her, but when she looked again, there were only shadows. More often than not, she’d wake up in a cold sweat, and rush to Ethan’s bedside to make sure he was still there, and not dead or a captive, pleading with her for help just beyond her reach. 

As long as she lived, Hatchetfield would carry those nightmares. Part of her knew she couldn’t stay here, but the guilt was almost overwhelming. For the first days, and weeks, she stayed silent. There were other things to focus on. 

Ethan recovered nicely. Becky was a skilled nurse and could give one hell of a ‘mom glare,’ so to avoid her looks, Ethan mostly did what Becky said, which was a lovely change of pace, because he didn’t usually listen to anyone except Hannah, who had him wrapped around her little finger. Oh, and occasionally he listened to Lex. Occasionally. 

Lex also suspected that the hat might be helping, that whatever magic Webby had left in that hat was speeding along his healing process, because injuries like Ethan’s should not have been healing as fast as they were. 

In two weeks, Becky allowed him out of the hospital room for a change of scenery. Lex steadied him as he walked to the couch, and stayed there for pretty much another week. He could walk under his own power by then, which was surprising. Broken ribs did not heal in three weeks, as far as Lex knew. It was nice to have Ethan up on his feet, though. Then, he could (gently) sneak up on her and hug her from behind, wrap his arms around her and kiss the top of her head like he always did. Lex would giggle like a five year old when he did that, which  _ totally  _ ruined her reputation. She would never admit to him that she missed those hugs. 

“I missed these,” Lex said, leaning against Ethan, as he came into the parlor three and a half weeks after they’d arrived at Hidgens’ place. He smiled and kissed the top of her head. 

“Me too,” he said. 

“Wow,” Tom said from the couch, barely looking up from the toy ship he was using to entertain Tim and Hannah. “And I thought Beck and I were sappy.” 

“Seriously, get a room, guys,” Emma said from Paul’s lap, the latter trying to hide a snicker. They sat on the couch, watching Tom play with Tim and Hannah. Becky sat next to them, pretending to read a magazine but in reality was watching Tom play with the kids with a sweet smile on her face. 

“Don’t look, kids,” Ethan said as he flipped Emma off. Tim and Hannah giggled with delight, the game momentarily forgotten. 

“ _ Tom _ ,” Lex complained at the same time. “Leave us alone.” 

“No,” Tom said. “I need some entertainment around here.” 

“Be nice, you guys,” Becky said, not looking up from her magazine. 

“Thank you,” Ethan said, gesturing grandly to Becky, who gave him a thumbs-up and a smile. 

Lex burst out laughing. She hadn’t laughed this hard in a long time. She didn’t know why. The moment was so  _ domestic,  _ so  _ cute _ , that it made her irrationally giggly. Everyone probably was looking at her like she was crazy but she didn’t care. 

“What’s so funny?” Ethan asked, leaning his chin on the top of her head. “Did I miss something.” 

“Nah,” Lex said, turning to face him, the crazy grin still on her face. “I’m just….” 

Linda Monroe grinned down from a shadowy corner above Ethan’s head, tossing a box cutter from hand to hand. Then the image changed to the man who’d called her ‘naughty list’ at the beginning of her shift. Then Wiggly. Lex blinked and the apparition was gone, but the moment was ruined. 

She extricated herself from Ethan’s arms and quickly left the room. It suddenly felt too stifling, too close and small. Too dark. She’d been feeling like that a lot lately. She wasn’t sure if California would help with that, but that nagging feeling that she couldn’t stay in Hatchetfield was ever-present. 

She went into the bedroom she was sharing with Hannah and Ethan and shut the door. The room was nice. A queen bed for Lex and Ethan, a twin mattress they’d dragged in for Hannah. Ethan had informed her that this had once been his room, for when he stayed with his uncle as a kid. Remnants of Ethan’s childhood fascinations: posters of Italian Sports Cars, books about ancient scientific phenomena that ten-year-old Ethan hadn’t understood, he just thought the pictures were cool, a photo of Ethan and his mother, Emily, where they were dressed up like archaeologists outside some museum when Ethan was eight. 

This felt like a room that was lived in, that someone had loved. Not like his room with his dad, which was pretty much bare and devoid of anything reminding him of Emily. Ethan had told her that it was because his bedroom didn’t feel like much of a home. It was more like a prison cell. Just like her space back at the trailer, save for a few photos of her and Hannah and a rock band poster she’d ripped out of a magazine once. Now they had a room all their own, with endless teasing material for Lex and something that felt  _ right  _ and comfortable. 

All the guilt about wanting to go to California came rushing back as Lex sat down on the bed, flopping back and staring at the ceiling. 

A light knock startled her out of her self-pity. 

“Come in!” she called with no enthusiasm whatsoever. 

As she suspected, it was Ethan. He cautiously came into the bedroom, still walking with a little bit of a limp. He sat down by Lex’s side and didn’t say anything for a few minutes. He didn’t push her, which Lex appreciated. He’d learned to wait for her to be ready to talk to him. He was endlessly patient in that waiting. 

“Are you happy here?” Lex blurted out after a minute. 

“What do you mean?” Ethan asked softly. 

“I mean…” Lex looked over at him. “Being here. In this bunker, with Tom and Becky and your uncle and all them. Are you happy?” 

“That’s kind of a loaded question,” Ethan said with a laugh. “Short answer, yes. I’m happy….” 

Lex sighed. That didn’t make her next question any easier. She felt selfish again. 

“And you’re asking because you’re not, and you feel bad that you still want to go to Cali,” Ethan finished. Lex looked over at him. Sometimes she forgot how good he was at reading her mind. 

“Yeah,” she admitted. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Tom and Becky, and your uncle. They’re great, and Tim seems to be getting along really well with Banana, but this is still fuckin Hatchetfield, and it’s the place where I’ve been continually getting fucked over for 18 years, and where I almost lost you and Hannah and I don’t know-” 

Ethan cut her off. “Lex, you don’t have to defend your choice. I get why you want to leave this place.” 

“I understand if you don’t,” Lex said softly. “If you want to stay. We can figure something out.” 

“No,” Ethan said firmly. “I don’t really want to stay. I love Tom and Becky too. I mean, Tom’s always been great to us, and it’s been great having Uncle Henry back in my life, but I promised to get you two to California, and I am sticking to it.” 

“Ethan-” 

“And even if I didn’t promise that,” Ethan continued. “Fucked up shit happened to us here. I can’t ever look someone like Gary in the eye again without thinking about what he did to us, about what could’ve happened to me and Banana Split if you and Tom hadn’t come to save the day. Besides.” He smiled and winked at her. “There aren’t too many acting jobs in California, and I still plan on being your date to the Oscars.” 

“I love you,” Lex said with a soft smile. “I really, really do.” 

“I’m pretty great,” Ethan agreed with a laugh. Lex raised an eyebrow at him and he raised his hands in surrender. “Love you too, Lex.” 

Lex felt a lot better after that. Now that she could actually wake up every morning without feeling crushing guilt over her determination to leave, she, in true Lex Foster fashion, made a plan to get them there. 

They had some money to get them started, courtesy of Gary Goldstein and Lex’s meager Toy Zone funds, so she could cross that off the list. The next few weeks were consumed in apartment hunting

Ethan had said immediately that Lex could pick the apartment. Even two years ago, when they’d made the plan. He’d laughed and said that he didn’t care if they lived in their car, and he wasn’t much for patience anyhow. He liked being on his feet. 

To Lex’s surprise, Becky often joined her in apartment hunting. She’d confided to Lex that she, too had thought about leaving Hatchetfield and had done an extensive amount of research into what to look for. She proved to be an excellent resource and, to Lex’s great surprise, someone good to talk to. She didn’t think she and Becky would get along, that they would have anything  _ to  _ talk about, but Becky was a good person, a good resource. She was more of a mom than Lex had ever had, anyway. 

Emma sometimes joined them, too. Mostly to make fun of the poor furniture choices of some of the apartments they found on Zillow and Craigslist. Sometimes they spent hours doing that instead. The more expensive the house, the more fun it was. 

That’s probably why it took a few weeks to find one Lex really loved. It was on a sunny, strangely warm December day a week before Christmas. The snow had melted, and Ethan and Tom were taking advantage of it to fix Marilyn, which had been liberated from the burnt-out corpse of the mall. It was, to Lex’s great surprise and Ethan and Hannah’s absolute delight, not unfixable. It had needed some work, but they were making surprising progress, under Becky’s supervision so she could make sure Ethan didn’t reinjure himself. 

“Becky?” Lex called, hopping off the couch with Hidgens’ laptop balanced in her arms. Hannah, who was playing with Tim and Paul, perked up, tilting her head at her sister. 

“Will you come with me, Banana?” Lex asked with a smile. “I got somethin’ to show you and Ethan and Becky.”

Hannah put down her toy spaceship and scampered after Lex as they crossed through the house. 

“What is it, Lexie?” Hannah asked. 

“I think I found us a place,” she said, ruffling her sister’s hair. “Out in Cali.” 

“Really?” Hannah’s eyes widened. “For real?” 

“For real,” Lex said. “Let’s go find E and Becky and we can take a look, yeah?” 

The apartment was on the top floor of a building in the half-decent part of LA, near a good school for Hannah. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a small living room, and a bathroom. It wasn’t anything super fancy, but it did have a view of the ocean, and opened up in early February. It was over what Lex had intended to spend, but she was slowly falling in love with the place the more she looked at it. 

“Look, Becky,” Lex said, pointing at the shower in the photo. “It’s like, all fancy and stuff.” 

“That is a perk,” Becky agreed. “It’s a nice apartment. Kind of a score.” 

“Would that be my room?” Hannah asked. She scrunched up her face and closed her eyes. “Webby says….” she opened them again, looking thoroughly disheartened. Even though they’d been here for several weeks, she still was waiting for Webby to return, and was still quite attached. 

“What does Hannah say?” Lex asked her softly as Ethan came over to join them, wiping his dirty hands on a rag. “Does Hannah like it?” 

Hannah studied the photograph for a long while. Lex couldn’t read the expression on her face. She began to grow worried. Hannah had assured her that she was okay with going to California, but Lex wondered if she wasn’t having second thoughts. The bunker had been her home for weeks, probably the closest thing to a home either of them had. Lex started feeling guilty all over again, until finally Hannah spoke. 

“Can we paint it purple?” She asked, warmth filling her voice. “I want purple.” 

“We can paint it whatever color you want, Banana Split,” Ethan said, reaching over to put the arm that wasn’t around Lex around Hannah. 

“I think it’s good, Lexie,” Hannah said, leaning into her sister’s side as Becky smiled at them. “Really good.” She reached up and took Ethan’s hand, squeezing it. “Like home.”

Home had never been Lex's favorite word, but now, with Ethan and Hannah by her side, looking at the room a thousand miles away, one they were going to paint purple, home sounded pretty good. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading/waiting for this mess! Comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated! 
> 
> Next time, they leave for California. 
> 
> Tumblr: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals


	18. Chapter 18 - Hannah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We check in with our favorite supernatural little girl one last time as Lex, Ethan and Hannah begin their long drive to California, but not before saying a few words to the town they're leaving behind for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! The final chapter! I hope I've done it justice.
> 
> TW for strong language but it’s very brief

They left for California on New Years’ Day. Lexie and Ethan said it sounded good. As Ethan put it, it was ‘symbolic and stuff, new beginnings and all that Hallmark channel shit.’

Tom and Becky had been helping them load a few more belongings into Ethan’s car. Most of their stuff was already in there, from the morning of Black Friday. Hannah remembered that Lex made her pack clothes and stuff, what she needed plus some other fun things to keep her entertained on the long drive. Ethan had promised they’d go get some chocolate for the car, at the candy store, before everything had turned bad. 

Now he was holding a Hershey bar out to her, pilfered from his Uncle’s refrigerator as Lex checked their supplies one last time. 

“Hey, Banana Split,” he said, smiling his signature lopsided smile. “I promised you some chocolate for the ride, didn’t I?” 

Hannah smiled softly up at him and took the chocolate from his hand. “We’ll share.” 

Ethan was still healing. His limp had noticeably lessened and he had full mobility back in both his arms. He claimed that he was shipshape, but he still winced sometimes if someone hugged him too tightly and he still couldn’t look at screens for too long. Nevertheless, Becky had cleared him to leave for California, under Lex’s watchful eye. The only condition was that Ethan was absolutely  _ not  _ allowed to drive. Hannah wasn’t sure if that was actually Becky’s rule or Lex had just told him it was. 

Either way, it left him free to entertain her on the way to California, so she wasn’t upset about it.

“Will you sit in back with me if Lexie has to drive?” Hannah tilted her head as she looked at him. Hatchetfield Middle School hadn’t taught her much, but Hannah did understand the fundamental principle of puppy eyes. Some life skills couldn’t be taught in schools. 

“I don’t know, Banana,” Ethan said, grinning and ruffling her hair. He knew full well he’d give in to whatever she wanted. “Don’t you think Lexie will get lonely in front without me?” 

“Maybe a little,” Hannah said. “But at least for a little while?” 

“For a little while, I will,” Ethan promised. “Someone’s gotta share your chocolate bar, right?” 

“No!” Hannah giggled and swiped it from Ethan’s hand, moving it away. She didn’t care what she’d said before. “All mine.” 

Ethan pretended to look hurt, and pouted, but before he could say anything in retort, Lex poked her head out the door and waved them inside.

“Hey, you two,” she said. “Come say goodbye before we leave. Car’s all packed.” 

Ethan gave her a thumbs-up to show he heard, and then turned to Hannah. “You up to say goodbye, Banana Split? I can do it for you if you just wanna sit in the car.” 

Hannah shook her head vehemently. “No. Wanna say bye.” 

“Alrighty, then,” Ethan said with a laugh. “Just thought I’d offer.” 

Tom, Becky, Paul, Emma and Henry were all gathered in the kitchen. Tom and Lex were talking quietly, Tom seemed to be giving her advice about something. Henry went up to Ethan to hug him goodbye. Hannah gave Paul and Emma hugs first. 

“Be safe out there, alright, kiddo?” Emma said, rubbing Hannah’s back gently. Hannah knew she’d had a lot of champagne last night, so the fact that she’d gotten up to say goodbye meant a lot. Emma was good. She was nice. 

“Yeah,” Paul agreed. “I’m gonna miss you, Hannah.” 

“Come visit.” Hannah shrugged and said it matter-of-factly. She’d miss Paul and Emma too, but somehow she knew they wouldn’t be apart forever. Even without Webby, she knew. 

“We will,” Emma promised. “Soon as this mess is sorted out, you best believe I’m coming to hang out at the beach.” 

“Good.”

Hannah gave a quick hug to Tom and said goodbye to Henry next. Then she finally turned to Becky. This was going to be harder. She and Becky had gotten very close in the month and a half they’d spent together at the bunker. She’d been there for her when Lex couldn’t be. She’d listened to Hannah cry about Webby, or Linda, or a hundred other things. She was more of a mom than Hannah had ever had. 

“I’ll miss you, Becky.” Hannah’s lower lip began to tremble and she bit it so she wouldn’t cry. This was a happy day. “I’ll-I’ll miss you lots.” 

“I’ll miss you too, Hannah,” Becky whispered as she pulled Hannah into her arms. She pressed a light kiss to the top of Hannah’s head. “I’ll miss you so much, but you have the phone number, right?” She waited for Hannah to nod confirmation before continuing. “And you know that you can call me anytime you need anything, or just want to talk, or anything…” 

“I know,” Hannah said, swallowing hard. “I’ll call. Promise.” 

“I’m glad,” Becky said, pulling away and cupping Hannah’s face in her hand. “Webby’d be proud of you, y’know.” 

Hannah just nodded. She still hadn’t heard anything from Webby in all this time. She’d had to come to terms with the fact that she probably wouldn’t ever hear her again. “Hope so.” 

“She is,” Becky murmured, pressing one more kiss to Hannah’s head. “She is.” 

She gently pulled away from Hannah after that, and went to go stand by Tom, lacing her fingers through his. Ethan put one arm around Hannah and one arm around Lex and pulled them both close as Tom addressed all of them. 

“Drive safe, you three,” Tom said softly. “Give us a call when you get to California, so we know you made it okay, alright?” 

“We will,  _ Dad _ ,” Lex said, a grin spreading over her face. “Come visit soon.”

“Soon as we can,” Tom promised. “And don’t get smart with me.” 

“Uh-huh.” Lex rolled her eyes and then turned to Ethan and Hannah. “You two ready to split?” 

Hannah and Ethan looked at Lex. After a moment, they both nodded. 

“Go,” Hannah said. “California.” 

“That’s right, Banana Split,” Ethan said. “Let’s go Califor M.I.A.” 

As promised, Ethan sat in the back of the car with her as they left Hatchetfield. It didn’t take them long to reach the edge of town, and Lex abruptly stopped and pulled the car over. 

“What’s up, Lex?” Ethan said, reaching over to break off a piece of Hannah’s chocolate. She kicked him lightly in the shin in retaliation and he teasingly stuck his chocolate-covered tongue out at her before turning back to Lex. “Why’re we pullin’ over here?” 

“Well, since we’re leavin’ here and never comin’ back,” Lex replied. “I figured we should stop and say a few words. It’s like a funeral, but for trauma.” 

Ethan burst out laughing and Hannah began to giggle too. “I like that.” Lex grinned back at them in the rearview mirror. 

“Would you like to start, Ethan?” Lex said, pretending to dab her eyes with a tissue. “I know you must have a lot to say.” 

“Sure,” Ethan said. “I’ll start.” He made a big show of clearing his throat, pounding a fist on his chest, wincing, and then apparently deciding it was a good idea to stop. “Hatchetfield...you suck. You really, really, really suck. Which is why we’re leaving. I would also like to take this opportunity to say that Sam the cop? If you’re alive, no one likes you and you’re a terrible person. ACAB.” He turned to Lex. “Okay, I’m done.” 

“That was beautifully said,” Lex said, giving him mock applause. “The remark about Sam the bastard cop was an especially nice touch.” 

“Thanks, I was inspired,” Ethan said. “Your turn, Lexie.” 

“God, I’ve been waiting for this.” Lex actually turned and knelt on her seat, so she was looking back towards the island and the town they were leaving behind. “Hatchetfield? It’s been real. Real bad. A lot of people are sentimental and shit about their hometowns when they leave, but I will not be. Hatchetfield sucks.” Lex waved her arms around wildly as she spoke. “And a general PSA to all the Hatchetfield parents except for Tom and maybe like two other people: please learn how to parent your children so their lives aren’t miserable. Thank you. That is all.” She sat back down and grinned. “How’d I do?” 

Ethan pretended to wipe away tears. “And the Oscar goes to….Lex Foster, for the most amazing performance in the entire history of Hatchetfield.” 

“Thank you, thank you,” Lex said, taking a bow in her seat. She turned towards Ethan. “Will you come sit up front with me now? I want company up here. I’m lonely.” 

“You okay with that, Banana Split?” Ethan asked. “I’ll ride in back with you next time we stop, promise.” 

Hannah nodded. “I wanna say something too.” 

“Okay,” Ethan said with a nod. “You deserve it. Here, come outta the car for a sec.” 

Hannah did as he asked, and Ethan hoisted her up and put her on his shoulders, wincing a bit as he did so.

“I’m fine,” he protested at Lex’s reproachful look. “It’s fine. It’s worth it.” He looked up at Hannah, who had her hands on his head to steady herself. “Alright, Banana. Say what you wanna say.” 

Hannah took a deep breath and tensed her shoulders. She let her arms spread as her proclamation echoed across the lake. 

“FUCK YOU, HATCHETFIELD!” 

“ _ Hannah _ !” Ethan and Lex chided at the same time. Hannah giggled hysterically as Ethan set her down and she crawled into the backseat, putting her seatbelt back on. 

“Felt good,” she said with a grin. 

“I think we can let it slide this once,” Ethan said as he settled into the shotgun seat beside Lex. “If you bribe me with chocolate.” 

“And me!” Lex added, holding her hand out with a mischievous smile. Hannah gave them each a square of chocolate without argument. Ethan tousled her hair before Lex shoved the chocolate in her mouth and slammed on the gas pedal. 

“Agh, Lex!” Ethan protested, though he was laughing as he put his own seatbelt on. “Warning next time?” 

“You drive _faster_ than this!” 

So Hannah watched the world go by as she listened to Lex and Ethan banter in the front, Hatchetfield and the pain in the past growing smaller and more insignificant behind them. Every mile they drove was one closer to California. That was a good thought. 

Hannah remembered the last thing Webby had said to her:  _ Enjoy California, Hannah.  _

_ Don’t worry, Webby, _ Hannah thought. She didn’t know if Webby could hear her at all, but she somehow felt that Webby would know.  _ I will _ .  _ We’re gonna make it to California.  _

There was maybe a universe where they failed. Where they all died tragically in a mall with no one around to remember them. That wasn’t this universe, though. In this universe, Lex, Ethan, and Hannah, with a little help from a kooky professor, a nurse, a teacher, and a spider from outer space, they made it. That was a good story, Hannah decided. This was the best story of all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is it. It's been a long time in the making. Sorry it took forever, a combination of life stuff, college, and just generally me not wanting to let this thing go made it entirely too long. but here it is. Thanks to all my readers for coming on this wild ride with me and for all your lovely comments. I really enjoy reading them. 
> 
> I have an idea for a cute l'il epilogue that I may post as a separate one-shots at some point, and I also may write some little in between one-shots focusing on the time at the bunker, but we shall see. I have another whole Black Friday AU idea in the works, so keep an eye out for that. 
> 
> Rambles aside, thanks for reading and Webby said to tell you to have a lovely day/evening/night, whatever <3
> 
> Tumblr, come say hi: 
> 
> @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals  
> (I also take requests)


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